


Jasper's Redemption

by ISHIPALLTHETHINGS91



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angsty at times, F/F, Jaspidot - Freeform, May make you cry, Multi, Slow Burn, another sexy time at chap 23, explicit due to sexy times, first at chap 12, funny at others, it made me cry sometimes, jaspis - Freeform, kindof, lapidot - Freeform, peridot rules, polygems - Freeform, post-corruption Jasper, sexy time at chap 20, sexy time chap 26
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-09-19 11:46:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 101,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9438743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ISHIPALLTHETHINGS91/pseuds/ISHIPALLTHETHINGS91
Summary: Steven visits Jasper's mind in one of his dreams and sees the pain overtaking the once-proud gem. Prompted by the dream, Steven takes a risk and reverses Jasper's corruption. Will Jasper accept her new life or be lured back into the darkness? What will she do when she faces the gem she escorted and the gem who kept her prisoner for so many months? Jasper/Peridot/Lapis. Post-corruption Jasper!





	1. Prologue: The Dream

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STEVEN UNIVERSE OR ITS CHARACTERS  
> Also, I have many more chapters to post. Expect this one to be a long story and I hope you like it!

Steven never knew it could be so quiet underwater. The young crystal gem just stood there, kicking up the sand and watching as the different grains rise lazily in a dusty cloud. Even though Steven knew that he was in the depths of the ocean, he could see everything around him as if he were back on land in the middle of a sunny day. There wasn't much to see down here however. Just sand and some rocks. Sometimes an angler fish or a goblin shark would swim by leisurely but they weren't that exciting once you get used to their ugly presence.

Having nothing better to do, Steven started to walk. Maybe if he walked far enough, he could reach land and find the something he wanted to find. Steven shook his head and tried to concentrate; he didn't want to find something, he _needed_ to. And it wasn't a something, it was a someone. His fingers raked through his wild hair as he tried to recall the person's name.

No, not a person, Steven realized. She was a gem, a gem so powerful that she could control the water with barely a thought. Steven felt himself grow warm as he thought of her. She was so beautiful, especially when she smiled. But how long did he last seen her smile at him with joy? Did she ever? Steven knew he saw her not that long ago but those were unpleasant memories. Memories that he couldn't even recall.

"Who are you?" Steven growled, his hands clenching at his head, feeling his claws start to scratch at his scalp. He took solace in the pain, it was better than feeling nothing. He continued to walk, still thinking about the mystery gem and how much he would like to see her again.

After a few hours of walking, Steven saw something new. New usually meant bad but something told Steven to go towards it. So Steven started to jog towards the new object and when he neared it, he saw that it was a boat. Already, the vessel was in the process of decay even though it was only there for a few months. How he knew how long the boat was there Steven had no idea but he continued to investigate it. He climbed up the side with ease, his claws providing necessary grips into the molding wooden surface. Gripping the rusting rail, Steven lifted himself up and gaped at the large hole in the middle of the deck.

Steven ambled closer to the hole, testing each step before putting his entire weight on the floor lest it collapse under him. He reached the edge of the hole and kneeled down to inspect it. The planks around the hole were warped so that they pointed up which meant the damage had to have originated from the bottom of the hull. It was too clean and round for the boat to have run aground. It looked as if someone had literally punched through the entire boat, Steven finally concluded.

But who would punch a hole through a boat and for what purpose? Steven's gut told him that it was to protect someone but why would one sink a boat to protect a person on it? Perhaps the danger came from one of the passengers? Once again Steven's gut told him that he was correct. Was the danger eliminated? Who was being protected? And who was the one that punched through the boat?

Steven groaned in pain as his brain went into overdrive with all of his questions. He got up and jumped off the boat, the water allowing him to simply drift back to the sea floor. Too many questions and even if he answered each one of them, where would that get him? Still walking the ocean floor aimlessly with some gem on his mind.

He was about to start walking again, as far away from the boat as he could manage when he realized something unnerving. It was quiet, too quiet. Steven looked back at the boat and gasped in horror. There, hovering above the hole, was a monster. It stared down at him with a wicked smile that he knew all too well. He would sometimes smile like that right before a fight when he knew that his opponent was actually going to challenge him. The creature was twice the size of the boat but Steven knew that it should be bigger. It stared at him with four eyes, each one black as coal.

"Long time, no see," it croaked, revealing deadly fangs that could slice through his flesh as if he were made of butter. What made his blood chill was the voice however. It was a crude imitation of the one that Steven knew belonged to the mystery gem. What should have been light and carefree was hoarse and bloodthirsty.

It narrowed its four eyes like it had read Steven's thoughts. It landed on the boat with a thud and crushed it as if it was a house made of cards. Steven felt something in his mind snap as the cloud of debris rose from the destruction. He turned and fled as fast as he could, knowing deep down that he would never be fast enough.

He heard the monstrosity laugh behind him as if gave chase. Steven's eyes whirled about his surroundings, trying to find a rock to hide behind or a crevice to squeeze himself into. Anything to escape the abomination behind him.

"Where do you think you're going to go?" The voice changed and sounded akin to his own, only overlapped by the mystery gem's voice. It sounded angry but also desperate, like it needed Steven but didn't know how to keep him. "You can't escape me!" The creature slammed its fist into the ground, cracking it open with a deafening roar.

Steven tried to jump over the crack but the ground beneath him opened up before he could. He fell, screaming for help. He could see the monstrosity at the lip of the trench, smiling down at him with eyes as blue as the ocean. He turned around midair and could only grunt as his body slammed into the floor, his head smacking against a rock with enough force that it should have split his skull open. But instead he was just knocked out.

Steven came to in a new environment. He looked about and could only see endless space, lit up by the floor made of water. He glanced down and immediately started to panic, each movement creating a ripple on the floor. His body was chained with links made of water that would not allow him to move or run. The chains went into the floor seamlessly and he could just make out a greenish-blue hand holding the other side of the chain. Steven roared in desperate anger, pulling with all his might to gain control. He didn't know why he needed to gain control or even how, he just knew he had to.

"Stop fighting me!" he roared to the figure under the floor. Steven felt a yank on the chains and his body slammed against the floor. His body started to fuse through the floor and in a panic, he tried to rip the chains off his body, only managing to dig his claws into his own skin. Steven yowled in pain but his cry was drowned out by a cruel laugh.

"You are so pathetic." Another yank and Steven was pulled under the floor. He covered his mouth, realizing that he could not breathe. The laughter grew as Steven was pulled even deeper into the darkness and madness. He looked down at his captor and saw Malachite staring up at him. Two of her eyes were glowing a blinding bright blue while the other two were closed. Steven tried to kick at the chains but Malachite only pulled him down even deeper until he could look at her face. "You are my prisoner now," said Malachite in the voice of Lapis Lazuli.

He shook his head and tried once again to swim up. This time he could feel Malachite giving him slack but he didn't want to test for how long. Already his eyesight was growing weaker, blackness obscuring the edges. He was so close to the surface, just a few more strokes.

Steven's head broke the surface and he gulped in mouthfuls of air while he still could. He could feel himself being dragged back under and he lifted an orange and red arm in desperation. He scratched at the air uselessly with his claws before he was pulled under once more. He looked down and saw that Malachite was no longer pulling the chains but something far worse.

It was him but not. It was a monster. It looked like a beta kindergarten gem corruption but with his body. It snarled up at him as it yanked on his chains further down. Steven tried to get away but the creature was too strong. Soon it reached up and raked its claws into his legs. Steven screamed out in agony as blood gushed from the wounds, staining the beige mane of the monster into an ugly red. He stared at the monster as it crawled up further until it was facing him with its horrible face. It roared and Steven let out a whimper knowing that he was about to die, only to be reborn and relive everything all over again. It opened its mouth wide and Steven could see his reflection clearly in the wicked fangs.

Jasper stared at her corrupted self, waiting for the end. As the beast snapped its jaws around her torso and neck to snuff out her life, Jasper released a blood curdling scream, reaching up with the arm not in the creature's mouth towards the surface. As her body was dragged down by her own madness given form, Jasper whispered her dying plea.

"Help me."

* * *

 

Steven jumped out of his bed, landing on the floor harshly with Lion yowling by his side. He curled up into a protective ball as his hands grasped at his throat where the beast had sunk her fangs into his flesh. He didn't know if what was covering his skin was his sweat or his life's blood. He screamed for help and heard people rushing around him. He felt hands on his body and heard concerned voices but he couldn't make himself stop screaming. He was still Jasper as she was killed over and over again by her corrupted self.

He felt his hands being wrenched from his neck and new fingers prodding and stroking the skin, looking for any injuries. His eyes swerved from right to left but he didn't see his family, too entrapped by his vision. He throat scorched from screaming for so loud and for so long but he couldn't stop. Not when he had to warn Jasper.

Steven's head jerked to the right and his cheek started to burn with a red mark in the shape of a hand beginning to form. He finally stopped screaming and his hand reached up to cover the mark. Steven looked at the blurry figure in front of him, her hand raised to give another slap if needed. For a moment he thought it was Jasper but then his vision cleared and Garnet was staring at him without her visors, tears flowing out of her three eyes. Steven brought his hand away from his cheek and looked around him. Pearl and Amethyst were holding onto each other, both of them sobbing quietly. Steven felt a nudge on his side and turned his head to see Lion mewing like a kitten, the pink fur around his eyes wet from his tears. Finally, Steven looked back at Garnet.

"Garnet?" His throat felt like it was on fire but he didn't care. "W-what happened?"

Garnet released a shaky breath and pulled Steven into a crushing hug. The boy could feel the gem kissing his head several times and tears mingling in his hair. Two other pairs of arms wrapped themselves around Steven as Pearl and Amethyst joined the hug. All three whispered words of relief and they didn't let Steven go for several minutes.

"You wouldn't stop screaming her name," Garnet whispered. "Lion just started to roar and bang at the temple's door until we all came out and found you like this. We thought-" Steven could hear Garnet sucking in a breath she didn't need. "Just don't ever scare us like that again," Garnet finished. Steven heard whimpers of agreement from Amethyst and Pearl.

Steven pulled out of the group hug and walked backwards into Lion. Lion bent his head and licked Steven's cheek while purring. Steven pushed away the head and stared down at his hands. He looked back up to his family who was staring at him as if they were afraid he would start screaming again. "Guys, I was _her_ and I"

"No, no," Pearl interrupted, getting up from where she was kneeling, knowing exactly who _her_ was. She walked over to Steven and pulled him into a hug again. "You don't have to worry about Jasper. She's bubbled up in the basement. She can't escape and hurt anyone."

Steven pushed Pearl away, causing the gem to stare at him in shock. "That's the problem! I-I was in her mind!" Realization slowly dawned on the crystal gem's faces and they all looked equally horrified and relieved. "She's in so much pain and I need to save her."

"What?" Pearl asked as if she did not hear Steven or simply could not understand what he had just said.

Steven looked up at Pearl and then at the other crystal gems. He clenched his fists and stood up straight to mask the fear that was boiling inside. He knew what he had to do was insane and perhaps even suicidal. But after being in Jasper's mind, he knew he had no choice but to try. "I have to save Jasper," he said solemnly.


	2. Rebirth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STEVEN UNIVERSE OR ITS CHARACTERS

Everyone stared at the young gem for a long time, none of them saying a word. Steven just met their gaze and hoped that they saw why he needed to do this. He only had a taste of what Jasper was going through in her mind and already he would rather be bubbled than go through it all over again. Jasper had to deal with the cycle of darkness and death for weeks.

"Steven," Pearl began and Steven felt his confidence chip a bit. Whenever Pearl used that tone of voice meant that she was going to try to sway him over with logic, or whatever logic Pearl seemed fit to use at that time. "Jasper is _corrupted._ She's in that bubble for a reason. If we let her out, she could hurt a lot of people." Pearl did not need to say who she was referring to. 

"I don't think she wants to hurt anyone anymore," Steven countered. He ignored Pearl's scoff and continued. "She's trapped and scared and all she wants is for the pain to stop." Tears brimmed in Steven's eyes as he looked away to the temple's door. "Jasper is in so much pain right now and it's because of me!"

Garnet chose that opportunity to get up off the floor and walk over to Steven. She sat down at the edge of his bed and pushed her visors up. "Jasper is in pain because she refused the help you offered to her. It is not your fault."

"Garnet's right dude," Amethyst spoke up. The purple gem stood up and brushed away her bangs but Steven could see how her hand trembled slightly. "If Jasper hadn't been such a sore loser when we kicked her butt then she wouldn't be the way she is now. Thinking that it's your fault that she's a monster won't help anything."

"THEN IT'S MOM'S FAULT!" Steven screamed, his patience finally snapping. He looked at his shocked family and then pointed at Rose's portrait. "Jasper thought I was her! The gem that shattered her diamond!" The other crystal gems looked away for a moment as if they forgot what their righteous leader was capable of. "Of course she didn't accept my help!" A few tears spilled out of his eyes and he angrily wiped them away as he whispered, "She must have thought that I was going to shatter her too."

Pearl tried to pull Steven into a hug but he shoved her away. Hurt flashed on her face before she schooled her features into one of professional disinterest. "Jasper didn't accept your help before so why do you think that she'll accept it now?"

"Because I know how she feels," Steven answered evenly.

"That's enough," Garnet said as Pearl opened her mouth to counter Steven's point. Garnet stood up from the bed and looked at Rose's portrait and then at Steven. "Do you truly wish to do this Steven?" Steven nodded without hesitation. Garnet looked at Pearl, "I think we should let him try. For his sake."

Pearl looked at Amethyst for support but the purple gem just shrugged. "If he wants to try then let him. If Jasper gets too rowdy I'll just poof her," Amethyst said, morphing into Purple Puma and smashing her fist into her palm for effect.

Pearl just sighed and glanced at Lion. The pink lion yawned and licked Steven's cheek. "You too, huh?" Pearl squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Fine, let's release the gem that caused all of us trouble for so many months. Just let me warn Lapis and Peridot and have Peridot deactivate the warp pad in case Jasper breaks out."

"That's the spirit!" Amethyst said, still in her Purple Puma form. She pumped her fist in the air and chanted, "Do it, do it, do it!"

* * *

An hour later, all four of the crystal gems and even Lion walked over to the door that lead to the temple. Garnet laid her hand flat against the door and it opened to the heart of the temple. They all went inside and looked at the different bubbled gems that they had collected on their journeys. Steven rushed over to one of the Amethyst's bubbles that held Jasper's gem. He jumped up and grabbed it, floating back down gently. He inspected the gem, wondering if there was any part of Jasper in there or if the beast from his nightmares had destroyed any semblance of her.

Steven took a deep breath and popped the bubble before his doubts could convince him otherwise. The gem fell to the ground with a soft clink but neither Jasper nor her corrupted-self leapt out. The crystal gems surrounded the gem and waited. Jasper's gem just laid there for several minutes without any sign of either forms of Jasper forming.

"Maybe she's still regenerating from that beating we gave her?" Amethyst suggested, trying to liven the mood but everyone could hear the concern in her voice.

Garnet bent down and poked the gem but it still did nothing. She looked up at Steven, "Perhaps she just isn't ready."

"No, she is," Steven argued, picking up the gem that belonged to Jasper. "She wanted to leave that place and find" Steven trailed off.

"Find who?" Pearl asked, taking a step forward.

"I don't know," Steven lied. He knew that Jasper wanted to find Lapis but he didn't want to tell the others. They would think that Jasper wanted to form Malachite again but Steven knew better. Despite what Jasper said on his father's boat, the quartz gem was absolutely terrified of that fusion. She just wanted to find Lapis, just so she can see her again. Steven looked down at the gem and an idea bloomed in his head. "I know what to do but you guys have to cover your ears." When none of the gems did as he requested, Steven pouted and turned around. He held the gem to his mouth and he whispered so low that the others couldn't hear. "You have to come out Jasper, if you don't you'll always be trapped inside of Malachite." The gem grew warm and Steven hurried to continue. "I know you want to see Lapis and if you come out, you'll get to again."

The gem twitch in his hand at the sound of Lapis's name. Soon it grew too hot and Steven dropped it with a pained yelp. The gem continued to twitch as it hit the ground. It was almost like two beings were fighting inside the gem in their haste to come out. Steven gulped as he realized that his fear might actually be the case.

"Remember everyone, if Jasper loses control we push her into the vat!" Pearl said, conjuring her spear. The other crystal gems except Steven nodded in agreement. Steven conjured his shield on instinct but knew that it was more to make the other gems feel better than for his actual safety.

A bright light exploded out of the gem, blinding everyone. The gem rose into the air and Lion hissed at the form taking shape. Steven rested a hand on the pink fur and watched as the blob seemed to struggle to choose a form. It went from Jasper to the corrupted creature and then back to Jasper.

"She's actually fighting it," Pearl said in wonder.

The blob halted at a form between the two before rapidly reverting back to the corrupted gem's. Steven lowered his eyes as corrupted Jasper began to form, not wanting to witness the proud warrior's defeat at her own hands.

A thud echoed throughout the temple when the creature that used to be Jasper landed on the floor. It got up on its legs shakily and swerved its head back and forth as if it was unsure of what to do. It made a strange noise like a grumble and ignoring the shocked gems, started to pace around the room. Steven lowered his shield and took a step forward towards the creature. It lifted its head to look right at the young crystal gem without any eyes for a moment before growling low in its throat. Steven could see the other crystal gems advancing from the corner of his eye and he held up a hand.

"Don't!" Steven said. "I need Jasper to trust me and feel safe." His attention was brought back to the creature. It backed up a few steps, still growling continuously. Steven took another step forward and the creature took a few more steps back, snarling when its back bumped into a wall. It raised a forepaw and Steven could clearly see the claws that once raked against his legs in his nightmare. He gulped and held up a hand, wishing that his entire body would stop shaking. "It's okay Jasper, I swear."

The creature snarled at the name, bringing down its paw and slamming it into the floor. Cracks grew from where the paw hit the ground and Steven took a deep breath before taking another step. The creature raised its hackles and hissed at Steven.

"I won't hurt you, not like my mom," Steven said softly. He noticed that the rest of the crystal gems lowered their own weapons and that tears were falling from Pearl's eyes. The hissing stopped but the creature did not relax its stance. "I know why you hate her so much, she took something precious from you. She took away your diamond." Steven dropped his hand and made his shield go away. The creature reared its head as if it could not believe that the human boy vanished his only weapon. "I am _not her._ I want to help you." Steven took the last few steps and looked straight up at the creature.

The corrupted gem could easily shatter him, Steven knew, but he wasn't afraid. He couldn't be. The creature lowered its head and Steven could feel its breath on his face. Steven slowly raised his hand and licked it. "Please let me help you, Jasper," he said, holding his hand out.

The two stayed in that stance for a full minute, the creature not moving an inch. Steven could tell that Jasper was grappling with the corrupted gem inside herself and he could only hope that she won. The corrupted gem gave out a strange noise that was between a whistle and a whine. It started to tremble and growl loudly.

"Steven get back!" Pearl yelled out.

"No! I can do this!" Steven held out his hand to the corrupted gem. "Jasper, please! You have to beat this thing!"

The creature roared and its forepaws scratched at the floor. It slammed its own head against the wall, creating a crater in the surface. Another high pitch whistle escaped the creature as it slumped against the floor. Slowly, its head rose and stared at Steven somehow, like it could sense him. Steven took it as a cue and took a tiny step forward, his hand now an inch from the corrupted gem's nose. The creature hesitated for a long moment before it pushed its face into Steven's palm.

Immediately, the corrupted gem reared back on its hind paws with a howl of agony, throwing Steven to the other side of the room in the process. Garnet jumped up and caught Steven before he slammed into the wall.

"You all right?" Garnet asked, her eyes not moving away from the yowling corrupted gem curling into a ball and uncurling, its claws scratching at the floor desperately as if by getting away from the room, the pain would leave it.

"Yeah, I think so," Steven said, gripping at his right arm. The corrupted gem had slashed at him when it reared back. He looked down and saw the blood pool through the gaps of his fingers.

Pearl and Amethyst rushed over to inspect the wound. "Oh no, oh no," Pearl whispered, moving Steven's hand away to look at the injury. She covered it up with her own hand and looked over at Amethyst. "Go get the medical supplies," she ordered. Amethyst looked back at the shrieking corrupted gem with a deep frown. "Now Amethyst," Pearl yelled.

Pearl's yell snapped Amethyst out of her stupor and she ran up the steps to go find the medical supplies, Lion following close behind. Garnet looked at Pearl who nodded. Garnet let go of Steven and summoned her two weapons. She walked over to the thrashing corrupted gem and rolled it onto its back with her foot.

Steven saw what Garnet was about to do and yelled out, "DON'T!"

Garnet looked back at Steven who was watching the two in horror. "I'm sorry Steven but she's too dangerous." Garnet pushed down the corrupted gem and raised a fist, aiming at its gem. The creature withered under her hand but was too consumed by the pain to attack or get away. She ignored Steven's pleas and brought down her fist. Right before she was able to hit the corrupted gem, however, she halted. Garnet stared at the creature for a long time before letting go of it so it could continue to thrash and screech in pain. She walked back calmly and covered Pearl's hand with her own, helping to stem the flow of blood from Steven. "I couldn't do it," was all she said.

Steven sighed in relief when he noticed that the corrupted gem's body started to glow again. It deformed into a messy blob, once again struggling between becoming Jasper or the corrupted gem. It would start to form Jasper but then deform again and start to form the corrupted gem. The blob smacked together and the gems heard the high pitch whistle again, only this time is sounded more like a scream. Pearl raised a hand to her mouth while Garnet covered Steven's ears as the screaming became more distinct.

The blob rose up to the ceiling in jerky-like movements before it slammed itself back to the floor. It finally seemed to settle on a form and the figure started to develop. Steven watched as the blob started to form Jasper and he was about to yell out in excitement when the sound of a gem cracking reached his ears. The entire room became quiet, the crystal gems barely breathing as the figure fully formed. It tried to get up on its feet but slumped down a moment later with a pained groan.

"J-Jasper?" Steven asked, struggling to get out of Pearl's grip. He looked up to tell the gem that he wanted to go and see if Jasper was all right when he saw the look on Pearl's face. It was a mixed between horror and amazement. He looked back to Jasper and saw that she had managed to get up on her feet.

"L-Lapis?" Jasper asked, her voice rougher and deeper than Steven remembered. She looked around the room, not realizing where she was. Jasper stumbled a few steps forward before falling back onto her knees.

Steven gasped and finally broke free from Pearl's grip. He ran over to the quartz gem and touched her shoulder without a hint of fear. "Jasper?"

Jasper's body jerked at the mention of her name and she looked up in shock. "Y-you," she stammered, "you were, you were _there."_ A look of pure terror covered Jasper's face and Steven quickly tightened his grip on her shoulder to get her attention.

"It's okay Jasper, you're back."

"I got the medical shit!" Amethyst yelled, running into the room with the medical kit held high in her hands. Not even Pearl bothered to chastise Amethyst's use of language. She and Lion ran down the stairs and skidded to a stop at the sight of Jasper. She dropped the medical kit as she stared at the once corrupted gem. Amethyst pointed at Jasper. "Horny Jasper," she whispered.

Jasper's face showed her confusion and she heard Steven gasp. She looked at him and noticed that he had stars in his eyes as he stared at her. He jumped up and down in excitement, forgetting about his wound and gasping in pain as reopened it. He grasped at it with a grimace but he still smiled up at Jasper. Jasper raised a hand but at the last moment she brought it close to her face. Her fingernails had elongated to deadly claws but it was the coloration of her skin that caught her attention. She still had her stripes on her biceps but she now had turquoise dots littering her arm where her spikes had come out during her corrupted form. Jasper's breathing increased as her hands dashed to the top of her head to grip her hair. She felt something hard on either side of her head and for a moment she thought that she had unconsciously summoned her weapon but she disregarded that notion when her hand felt her hair in between the objects. Her hands trailed up and felt the objects curl around. She tensed when she realized what the objects were.

"Horns," she whispered. "I have horns."

"You have horns," Steven repeated, apparently excited by the new form of Jasper. His eyes zeroed in on Jasper's face and he gasped again. "You have a nose!"

"A nose?" Jasper crossed her eyes to see and raised a hand to touch the spot where Steven was looking at. Instead of feeling her gem, she felt a nose. She took an experimental sniff and she could smell Steven's scent and all the others. Jasper gripped at her head, accidentally raking her claws against her horns and creating a sound that made her flinch. "Where the fuck is my gem?"

"Language!" Pearl said on instinct.

Jasper snarled at the gem, surprising every one of the animalistic sound. "I don't give a flying fuck! Where is my gem!?" She patted down her body and felt something hard on her chest. She pulled at her shirt and looked down. She indeed had a gem but it wasn't like the one before. It was oval in shape and like her skin, it was striped with reddish-orange and orange with turquoise dots here and there.

"Wha-" Jasper shook her head and looked around again, trying to figure out what was happening and where she was. Her eyes took in all the bubbled corrupted gems and then at Steven. She bared her fangs at him and hissed at Steven, finally realizing who was in the same room as her. Jasper got up on shaky feet and backed away. Soft clicking sounds echoed through the room and Jasper glanced down, seeing that she now had claws on her feet as well. She looked back at the crystal gems and sneered at them. "What are you going to do with all these corrupted gems? Try and build your own army?"

Pearl scoffed and grabbed the medical kit that was still on the ground. She moved to Steven now that Jasper was away and started to bandage his wound. "Only you would do something so despicable."

"We are keeping them safe from you," Garnet said.

Jasper growled at the answer, unable to keep her fangs from being bared. Lion tilted his head at the quartz gem and got up from his haunches. He padded over to Jasper and rubbed his head under Jasper's chin, purring as if the two were the closest friends. Jasper shoved Lion away with a snarl but the creature came back, rubbing his head against Jasper's side while continuing to purr.

"Aw, he likes you," Steven said. Now that his arm was bandaged, he acted like Jasper had never wounded him in the first place. He got up and started to move towards Jasper who hissed at him while shoving Lion away again. "How do you feel?"

"Annoyed," Jasper answered. Lion again tried to rub his head against her but the quartz gem hissed and bared her fangs at him. Lion sat down and stared up at Jasper for a moment before slinking away, apparently hurt from Jasper's actions.

"Don't be mean to Lion," Steven chastised Jasper.

Jasper just hissed at him too.

"Stop hissing Jasper," Garnet said, allowing her weapons to dissolve into nothingness. "Steven saved your life and you should thank him."

Jasper shook her head and straightened her back. "I won't," she growled. She stomped out of the room and banged at the door. "Let me out!" she snarled.

Steven jumped up and rushed over to Jasper, placing a hand on the door. It immediately opened up and Jasper looked down at him, confused. "You said you wanted to get out," he said. "I would want some peace and quiet too if I was you," he said with a grin, however his eyes had dulled from the memories of the nightmares.

Jasper seemed hesitant to do anything, staring down at the boy who was still grinning widely up at her. She scoffed and left the room without another word, Lion bounding after her. The group heard Jasper yell at the pink animal to stop following her around.

"At least she's not trying to shatter anyone," Amethyst said, still unable to believe what just happened.

Steven simply walked back down with a broad smile. He looked at Pearl who was busy staring at the still open door with a slack jaw. "I told you I could help her."

"S-she, yo-you," Pearl stammered before gripping her head, her eyes wide, "HOW!?"

Garnet just smiled at Steven and put her hands together, "I knew you could do it."

Amethyst looked at them and then the door. Soon, Pearl became a stuttering mess with Steven looking smug and Garnet not doing anything but grinning. The purple gem sighed and slipped out of the room before any of them could notice. She went into the beach house and saw Jasper punching the warp pad with one hand and keeping Lion at arm's length with the other.

"Fucking work stars damnit!" Jasper roared.

"Punching it won't make it start," Amethyst said, going over and sitting on a stool. She watched Jasper continue to struggle to start the warp pad with no success. "You do realize that we had Peridot deactivate it before we set you out. We aren't that stupid."

"Fuck off," Jasper growled. Her punches were becoming weaker and her vision began to blur. She shook her head and punched the warp pad again with a snarl. Lion was able to swat her arm away but he didn't try to rub his head against her. Instead, Lion started to mew and paw at Jasper's arm.

"Hey, are you okay?" Amethyst asked. She noticed that Jasper's breathing getting heavier and sweat started to bead on her forehead and face. She pushed herself off her seat and walked over to the quartz gem. As she neared, she saw that Jasper had started to tremble and was no longer trying to start the warp pad. Amethyst was about to rest a hand on Jasper's shoulder but the quartz gem slapped it away.

"I was sent here as an escort," Jasper said, a hand burying into her hair. Her eyes were wild and unseeing. "I was to help Peridot restart kindergarten and destroy the earth. I-I wanted the earth to be destroyed, I wanted to shatter you all!" Jasper screamed, her fist slamming down on the warp pad. "And yet, you crystal gems, you brought me back from that hell." Jasper turned her head to look at Amethyst. "Why?" The question was so desperate and uncertain.

"Because it would be what Rose wanted," Amethyst said with a tired sigh. She sat down next to Jasper. "Rose believed that everyone deserved a second chance and that each gem could be who they want." Amethyst shrugged and played with a lock of her hair. "I guess Steven just inherited all that."

Strangely, Jasper started to laugh, falling down her back and her hand covering her eyes. "You got to be fucking kidding me. I spent my _entire_ life serving the diamonds, first Pink and then Yellow. And yet it is the rebels that save my ass." Another sarcastic chuckle escaped Jasper. "Fate is a fucking cunt."

"Yeah she is," Amethyst agreed. "You tried to shatter us all at one point or another, some of us several times." Jasper removed her hand and turned her head to look at Amethyst, one of her horns tapping against the warp pad. "You tried your hardest to destroy this planet and everyone I love. You forced Lapis into a sick, twisted version of a fusion and even got corrupted trying to shatter me and Steven. Yet here you are," Amethyst said bitterly, glaring down at Jasper. But the glare didn't last. Soon the purple gem sighed and rested her chin on her knees.

"Here I am," Jasper said. She turned her head to stare at the ceiling. She felt Lion curl up next to her and she growled softly but did not waste her energy trying to push him away.

"What the fuck," Amethyst said.

"What the fuck," Jasper repeated.


	3. Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STEVEN UNIVERSE OR ITS CHARACTERS

Jasper woke up screaming, her hands grasping onto anything they can hold. She could still feel the chains tightening around her neck and the teeth and claws slicing through her body. Jasper's entire body trembled and dug her claws into whatever was on top of her. Her life's blood was wet and sticky against her body, causing her clothes to cling to her skin. Her hands gripped at the warm and furry pillow above her as she slowly came back to reality. The quartz gem struggled to breathe and felt the pillow shift its weight. She realized with the start that what she thought was a pillow was actually Lion.

Lion shifted again, lifting himself so that his mane wasn't pressing down on Jasper's face. He mewed once and rubbed his nose against Jasper's cheek. He stared down at her with eyes that unnerved Jasper immensely. Every night she would have those damning night terrors and every morning she would wake up screaming, her voice being silenced by the pink animal laying on top of her.

Once Jasper's breathing got under control, she let go of Lion, somehow her claws seeming to not have harmed the magical animal. Lion yawned and rested his head on Jasper's chest, right above where her new gem while still staring at the quartz gem. He began to purr deeply and the last bits of Jasper's night terror disappeared.

Jasper growled at the animal and shoved him off of her. Lion landed neatly on all fours from the couch that Jasper was using as a bed for the past week now. She heard a loud plop and groan of pain right after. Jasper sat up and looked down, seeing Steven rubbing his head while looking at Lion. The animal simply yawned and padded up to Steven's bed before curling up and going back to sleep. Jasper looked back down at the human boy.

"Why were you in my bed?" Jasper growled.

Steven was unfazed by the animalistic behavior and sat up, yawning into his hand. He stood up and scratched at his backside, looking around at the living room.

"Well?" Jasper asked, annoyed that the human didn't answer her right away.

"I was sleeping on Lion and I guess he brought me here," Steven slurred, yawning again into his hand. "Besides I am alive so I just had to be in the living room." Steven grinned at Jasper who only shook her head with an exasperated groan.

"Not only do I have to endure the crystal gems' presence but also your insufferable attempts at making a joke," Jasper muttered. Figuring that sleep was now no longer an option, Jasper stretched, pushing out her legs and arms as far as they would go, her claws extending and raking into the couch's side.

"Hey, quit it!" Steven said, lightly smacking away Jasper's hands as her claws dug into the furniture. She was more like a feline than a gem now, Steven concluded. She would sleep for hours in the middle of the day and watch something intently without moving at all like a big cat about to pounce on prey. Steven almost laughed at the sudden thought of Jasper prowling on all fours after some mouse in a field of tall grass. Glancing at the quartz gem, he decided that perhaps his mental image wasn't all that far-fetched.

"Jasper really, we already had to replace that mirror four days ago," Pearl sighed from the kitchen. The gem put her hands on her hips and tutted disapprovingly when Jasper flipped her the bird in response. She's lucky that Steven wasn't looking, Pearl thought. She disliked the quartz gem's existence less and less as she continued to sleep on their couch. But Pearl also knew that they simply couldn't throw her out of the house, lest Jasper started running amok or worse, go after Lapis Lazuli and Peridot.

Jasper huffed and got up from the couch, stomping over to the kitchen where the three crystal gems were standing about. She sat down on the stool closest to the window and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, doing her best to ignore the three sets of eyes that were trained on her. She despised the crystal gems need to watch her every movement.

"So, how did you sleep sis?" Amethyst asked.

Jasper grimaced at the nickname and glared at the purple gem. Just because they were both made on earth it did not mean they were related. No gems were related for crying out loud. "Fine," she grunted, her eyes not leaving the window, "especially considering that you sent you pink fuzz ball to keep watch over me." Jasper spotted a humming bird hovering near a bird feeder. She felt disgusted that she had to repress the urge to leave the temple and chase after the animal that dared to go on her territory.

"You could at least look at someone when you're talking to them," Pearl said, flipping a pancake she was cooking.

Jasper looked over at Amethyst who was spinning around on her stool. She glanced back at Pearl who was now stacking some freshly cooked pancakes on a clean plate. Jasper didn't have to bother to look to know what Steven was doing, from the sounds the human was making, he was trying to get Lion off his bed. Finally, her eyes flashed to Garnet who was just standing near the fridge, staring into nothing. Jasper wasn't fooled however, she knew that the gems, except maybe Steven, were watching her every move.

Steven came back down with a grin that he flashed at everyone, including Jasper. He took the plate of pancakes from Pearl and sat down right next to Jasper. The quartz gem released a low growl, her lips curling a bit to reveal the tips of her fangs. She heard an angry humph and her eyes zoomed over to Pearl. Pearl looked at Jasper angrily and Jasper smiled at her, making sure that her fangs were on full display. The gem shook her head at Jasper, silently warning her, before turning around and starting to clean the pan she cooked the pancakes with.

Jasper glanced down at the human boy who had already worked his way through two pancakes. "Why do you have to eat?" Jasper asked. Every day she saw the boy eat at least three times at regular intervals like it was a routine. She could sense every gem tensing as if she asked Steven how he would like to die.

Steven seemed delighted that Jasper asked him a question because he put his fork down and spun around to face her. "I have to. My body needs fuel to keep me going!" He patted his stomach and stabbed a bite of pancake with his fork. He held it out to Jasper. "You wanna try some?"

Jasper made a face and shook her head, even though the aroma coming from the food was indeed enticing but she would never admit that out loud for the crystal gems to hear. Pearl would most likely hold it over her head for years if not until she is shattered. Pearls always felt the need to try and act like they were better than everyone else.

"I don't understand why you crystal gems are so obsessed with humans," Jasper said. "Humans are so inefficient. They have to eat, shit," Pearl shot Jasper a warning look, "and sleep their day away. And even then they only live a few decades, a century at most!" She pointed at Steven. "So why do you pretend to be a human, Rose?"

Steven swallowed the food in his mouth before facing Jasper again. "I'm half human so I'm not pretending when I eat, sleep, or use the bathroom." He met her eyes as he continued, "And I'm not my mom, I told you that. I'm Steven Universe." His eyes softened and he put more syrup on his pancakes. "Besides, you sleep regularly now too, Jasper."

Jasper glanced away with a huff. "I still don't get it." It was true that Jasper slept every night and took naps during the day, something she would have never done before she was corrupted. She felt weak in this new form, always tired, and she had to rest more and more as the days go by, only managing at the most three hours until she woke up shrieking into Lion's mane due to her night terrors. Jasper never told any of the crystal gems about it however, fearing that they would use her weakening state against her.

Steven finished his breakfast, getting up to give the dirty plate and silverware to Pearl before coming back and sitting next to Jasper again. "Living like a human is better than being stuck in a magical bubble, corrupted forever."

Jasper sucked in a breath as her chest rumbled with the beginnings of a growl when she heard Amethyst laughing hysterically. She looked over just in time to see the purple gem fall off her stool. "You just got told sis!" Amethyst wheezed, trying to catch her breath.

"It was a lot less aggravating in that pathetic excuse for a magical bubble," Jasper grumbled.

"We could always put you back in it," Garnet warned, fixing her glasses without moving from her spot near the fridge or even turning her head to look at Jasper.

"Welp, I'm gonna take a shower now," Steven declared, hopping off the stool and heading towards the bathroom.

Jasper watched him leave, already feeling the atmosphere become colder without the human boy trying to lighten it. She sighed and once again looked out the window, wondering how a creature so puny and inexperienced best someone like her. Jasper left a scar on his arm where her claws had raked across his skin without even meaning to and now she's at rock bottom, having to play nice with the crystal gems. She was literally born to fight and yet a half-human and his gem rejects were able to beat her every single time. Jasper led armies against Rose Quartz's rebellion and now here she was, practically a prisoner who owes her existence to her sworn enemy. Was she really that weak now? Jasper growled at the thought, her claws aching to tear into something. Maybe she should shred the couch, it would be entertaining to see Pearl's reaction.

Steven came back in with clean clothes on after his shower. His hair was still wet as if he hurried to get out of the bathroom. He looked at Jasper for a moment before going into the living room and sitting on the floor to read. He didn't try to sit on Jasper's couch which Jasper appreciated.

"I think it's time for Jasper to meet the others," Garnet suddenly said, finally leaving her spot to stand near the counter. Jasper noticed that the crystal gem intentionally stood between her and Steven.

"What!?" Pearl dropped the plate she was cleaning and it smashed onto the floor.

Jasper would have taken this opportunity to rub it in the pearl's face but she was too busy staring at Garnet like she lost her two minds. The fusion really must have scrambled what was left of the sapphire's mind, Jasper thought. Or maybe it was the ruby was in control of thinking.

"Um," Steven spoke up from his spot on the floor, "maybe that isn't such a good idea. Peridot could trigger the corruption in Jasper because she well, you know," he trailed off, looking down away from Jasper's piercing eyes and sneer.

"Because the bitch killed me?" Jasper finished, rolling her eyes.

"Jasper, watch your mouth in front of Steven!" Pearl yelled as she put the shards of the plate into the trash can. The crystal gem was still grumbling as she tied the trash bag and wrote on the black surface, "Broken Glass," with a white marker.

"It's been a week since Jasper's freedom from the bubble and she hasn't caused any incidents," Garnet said. Jasper wondered why the fusion was so focused on getting her to see Peridot. She felt the need to bare her teeth and snarl when she thought of the tiny green gem. Yet another irony to rub salt into her wounds. The earth-loving technician with very little advantage over Jasper was able to kill her.

Pearl looked at Garnet and then Jasper and back to Garnet. She pointed to the painting of a dog sleeping in the living room. It may seem like just a regular painting but everyone in the house knew that it was covering up a head-sized hole. "What about that?"

"There was a spider," Jasper explained, already feeling aggravated as she recalled the memory. It was just a stupid house, why did the pearl feel the need to lecture her for hours on how to not destroy things and the proper way to dispose of pests. Jasper had the sneaking feeling that Pearl included Jasper in her term of pests.

"You rammed your head straight through!" Pearl yelled, her hands on her hips again.

Jasper pointed at her new horns and tapped one of them for effect. "There was a spider and I had horns. I acted on instinct," she said. She gestured to Steven who had climbed up on her couch to get a better view of the gems. "If you're so pissy about it, why don't you have the brat fix it with his healing spit?"

"It doesn't work like that," Pearl ground out from clenched teeth. "And his name is Steven." She looked at Garnet again while gesturing to Jasper. "This is exactly why this is a bad idea! She's a loose cannon and who knows what she'll do if she saw Peridot. Maybe she'll act on instinct again and ram her head into Peridot!"

Amethyst started to laugh again, pounding the counter with her fist. "Oh man! That would be so hysterical!" the purple gem yelled. She looked up at Jasper, or rather her horns, and laughed even harder. "I wonder if Peridot would fly into the barn or into that pool! Oh sis, you definitely have to do it."

"No, she won't," Garnet said, fixing her glasses again. Jasper hated when the fusion did that, it was like she knew something that nobody else did. She'll head butt Peridot if she wanted to. "It would be good for Jasper to see that she can have a life on earth, even if she doesn't become a crystal gem."

"I do have a life," Jasper growled. She held up her hand and allowed her claws to glisten in the sunlight while she bared her fangs. "I was born to fight and that is what I'm gunno do."

Steven left his couch and walked over to Jasper, playing with his hands in a nervous gesture. "But Jasper, you're tired of fighting." He looked up to her with eyes that told Jasper that he remembered the hellish realm within her mind.

Jasper scoffed and laughed at the words. "I'll never tire of fighting."

The boy just stared up at her with disappointed eyes, like he was hoping that she would suddenly agree with everything he said. Jasper sneered at him and turned around so she wouldn't have to face any of those aggravating gems.

"Then its settled," Garnet said. "Steven and I will take Jasper to the barn."

"Wait, shouldn't we all go?" Amethyst asked, glancing at Jasper's tense back. She didn't mistrust Jasper to the extent as Pearl but she wouldn't put it past the quartz gem to attack Steven when she thought she had a chance.

"No," Garnet said. "You two stay here. We'll be all right." Garnet fixed her glasses again. None of the other crystal gems tried to argue against the fusion. She and Steven walked over to the door.

When the human boy realized that Jasper didn't move, he smiled at her and made a come on gesture with his hand. Jasper glanced at the other two gems and groaned, slumping off her stool and stomping to the other two. Steven's smile widened and Jasper sneered at him. Steven didn't seem to mind, he just hurried down the steps and waited for the others to catch up, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

"Just wait until you see what Peridot did with the barn, Jasper!" Steven exclaimed, either not noticing how the name made Jasper hiss or pretending that he didn't. "It was a real fixer upper before but now that Peridot is living there, you can help her!"

"And why would I help that little traitor?" Jasper asked, looking down at her claws for any imperfections.

"Because she helped save you," Steven answered. Jasper's eyes flashed down at the boy but he met her gaze evenly.

That was another thing Jasper despised about Steven. One moment he was all cheery which aggravated her and then the next he's serious which made Jasper want to roar. But she much rather deal with that than the times where Steven acts like he knows how Jasper feels. Like he knows she's afraid.

"We're here," Garnet said, stopping.

Jasper looked at the barn with a disgusted frown. She had to concede that Steven was right about one thing: the barn really was a fixer-upper. Even though Jasper could tell that Peridot put a lot of time into the building, it still needed a lot of work. She glanced at the pool and wondered why there was a floating ring on the surface.

"Peridot, it's me, Steven!" Steven called out, both his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice.

"S-Steven, Garnet?" Peridot said in surprise. Jasper looked up at the truck that stuck half way out of the barn. Peridot didn't seem to notice Jasper because she rushed down and ran up to him, grabbing onto his hand with a wide smile. "Steven, you got to see this. I made more meep morps, this time to represent me defeating," her eyes finally trailed over to the third person and her eyes widened in fear, "JASPER!?" Jasper could have sworn she heard something crash inside the barn but her attention was pulled back to Peridot when the green gem tried to haul Steven away from her.

"Wait, Peridot, it's okay," he said, trying to calm his friend. "Jasper's good now."

Peridot stopped pulling on Steven and looked up at Jasper. Her eyes took in the quartz gem's new form before her eyes settled on the horns. She gave a little shriek and ran back inside the barn, apparently trying to hide from Jasper.

"Peridot, come out!" Steven yelled, running over to his friend. He hauled Peridot halfway out of the barn's door but the green gem gripped at the wooden frame. "Jasper won't hurt you, I swear!"

"Liar!" Peridot cried out, pulling herself a little more into the barn before Steven gave a tug. The green gem lost her grip on the frame and the two landed in a heap. Peridot scrambled back to her feet and stared at Jasper. "She was corrupted! Parts of her are still corrupted!"

Jasper narrowed her eyes and growled at the technician's choice of words. Peridot took a step back and hid behind the barn's door, her head peeking out to watch Jasper's every move.

"Steven healed Jasper's gem and reversed the corruption," Garnet said. "Well, mostly anyway."

"Mostly!?" Peridot squeaked back. "She has horns!" Her eyes trailed down, "And claws!"

"And ears," Jasper added. She took a step forward and felt a warning hand on her shoulder. She glanced back at Garnet who shook her head slowly. Jasper huffed and crossed her arms. Peridot took a small step out of the barn and Jasper titled her head at her. "Did you get even more puny since I last saw you?"

Peridot's cheeks flushed as she clenched her fists. "That's because I don't have my limb enhancers, you clod!" Peridot slapped a hand on her mouth as her eyes widened a considerable amount, realizing what she just called the strongest quartz warrior. "I mean- uh, when I said clod I meant it in a- please don't hurt me!" Peridot shrieked, covering her face with her arms.

"Jasper's not going to hurt you," Steven said, pulling on Peridot's arm so that the green gem was forced to take another step away from the barn. Peridot eyes flashed between Steven and Jasper several times, still unconvinced. "She can't hurt you," Steven said, pulling Peridot a few more steps away from the barn.

"I could," Jasper corrected the human boy. Peridot gave a small meep and hid behind Steven. Jasper sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, flinching when one of her claws accidentally scratched at her scalp. "I'm not going to however."

"Y-you're not?" Peridot asked, poking her head out from Steven's side. She stared at Jasper suspiciously. "Why should I trust you?"

"Because I respect you now," Jasper said, causing Steven to gasp in excitement. She took a step forward and was pleased that Peridot didn't try to retreat back into the barn and that Garnet removed her hand from her shoulder. "You took swift action in killing me when I became corrupted."

Steven raised a hand to gain Jasper's attention, "Uh, we use the term 'poof' here."

Jasper rolled her eyes. "You proved yourself to be a commendable warrior and it would be a disgrace to attack you now when there is no reason."

Peridot stared at Jasper and threw her hands up in the air. "Okay, I'm done now. This is just too weird." The green gem started to head back to the truck and the television.

Jasper suddenly tensed as a breeze blew through the barn and to the gems outside. She tilted her head up and sniffed the air like a dog would when it caught an intriguing scent. Steven looked at Jasper confused for a moment before realization made his face whiten. "Jasper, wait, you don't want to do this," he said, putting his hands up as if he could physically stop the quartz gem.

Jasper shook her head with a growl, her eyes now wild and her teeth bared. Garnet tried to grab her but the quartz gem leapt away before she could, landing on all fours. Jasper released a hiss at the two gems and barreled towards the barn, still on all fours. Peridot shrieked and tried to run into the barn but ended up tripping and falling on her face. She turned over in time to see Jasper leap over her like it was nothing. Jasper went inside the barn and sniffed the air again. She caught the scent she was looking for and leapt to the second floor. She landed lightly and stared at the gem who dropped the magazine she was reading.

Lapis Lazuli backed up until her back hit the wall, her eyes never straying away from Jasper. "No, no, no," Lapis whimpered. "You can't be here, you can't be here."

Jasper stalked over to the water gem until she was right in front of her. She got back up on her feet and smiled at Lapis. She reached out and brushed a lock of blue hair behind Lapis's ear with her clawed hand. Lapis didn't try to push the hand away or get away from Jasper, she just stood there staring at the quartz gem. Jasper shook her head as her body began to sway on her two feet.

"Lapis," Jasper whispered, Lapis's image blurring and her body slumped forward. She heard Lapis call out her name and felt two arms wrap around her. She tried to say something to calm the water gem but her vision went completely dark.


	4. The Doctor is In

Jasper groaned as her eyes fought to open. Her head felt as if thousands of Amethysts were having a competition on who could slam herself against Jasper's brain the hardest. It was not helping that she could hear an annoying scribbling and a woman humming in concentration to herself. Nor did it help with the slow continuous beeping of a machine close to her. Another pained groan left Jasper and she tried to lift her hand to grip at her head but she found that she couldn't. After a minute, her right eye finally peaked open and Jasper looked down at her arms, seeing that they were bound to some kind of bed. She growled and started to struggle, feeling panic that she couldn't break out of the primitive restraints. Her eyes started to close again and Jasper whined in fear. She felt a calming hand rest on her arm and Jasper managed to tilt her head to look at the person touching her.

Some woman smiled reassuringly at Jasper and went back looking at some contraption that showed numbers and lines that Jasper could not understand. Jasper tried to concentrate on the woman's image but soon it became too blurry for her to see the person clearly. "You shouldn't be up so early, perhaps more anesthesia is in order," Jasper heard her say.

"Is she going to be all right?"

Jasper would have growled at the voice if she could move her lips. It sounded like Pearl but she couldn't be sure at the time. Her eyes fluttered shut and she could no longer make out the words that the two in the room were making. Right as she fell back under, she heard the door open and someone sounding a lot like Steven calling her name.

"Jasper, are you coming to?" the same woman from before asked. Jasper hissed and she could hear the other person gasp in shock. "You can hiss!" she exclaimed. Jasper heard more scribbling and felt a light prod on her cheek. "Can you open your eyes?"

The quartz gem struggled for a bit but managed to open one eye a tiny bit, just enough to make her hiss again at the brightness hurting her retinas. She slowly opened her eye wider, not going to let the human see her as weak.

"Take your time, Jasper," the woman said, the hand on her arm again. Jasper tried to jerk her arm away and found that the movement was halted by the restraints. "You've been in a coma for about a week now so your eyes aren't used to bright light."

"Coma?" Jasper rasped, grimacing at how it hurt to speak. She needed something to stop the burning in her throat, but she didn't know what. Both eyes were now open but Jasper had to narrow them in order to endure the brightness of the forensic lights.

"Oh!" the woman said. "You don't know what a coma is, do you? Basically, it's when someone falls into a deep sleep for many days. It's usually caused by an injury to the head and the coma allows the patient time for his or her brain to heal."

This human sounds a lot like Pearl, Jasper thought to herself. She looked at the human and was reminded of another one, the one that fused with Steven. "Throat," Jasper rasped. She heard the human grabbing a paper cup and a scraping noise as the human scooped up some ice. She held it out to Jasper's lips and Jasper opened her mouth slightly, feeling humiliated that she had to be spoon-fed. The ice cooled the burning in her throat slightly and it gave her something to munch on. The human gave her two more scoops of the crushed ice before Jasper shook her head weakly at the third offering. The woman put the cup back on its tray.

She stared as Jasper became more responsive, something the quartz gem did not like at all. It felt as if the woman was studying her, trying to figure out what to do with Jasper. She noticed that Jasper was now glaring at her and she started to scribble something down.

Jasper looked around the room, grimacing at the different machines making strange noises. She recognized that the machine that did the beeping noise was still there. One of the walls held a whiteboard that had several numbers written on it. Once again Jasper had no idea what the numbers were for. Her eyes glanced at the window and she could just barely see out of it. She noticed that Pearl was standing there, her arms crossed and her mouth set at a permanent frown. Jasper started to wonder if the crystal gem watched her since she went into the coma but quickly realized she didn't want to know the answer. She finally turned her head to look at the human who was now studying the same machine Jasper first saw.

The woman wrote something down on a clipboard and took a deep breath before turning on her heel to face Jasper. "Hello Jasper. My name is Dr. Maheswaranh and I am here to help you."

Jasper huffed and turned her head so she could glare at Pearl again. All these beings on this wretched planet seem to want to 'help' her now.

She heard the doctor take an offended breath before continuing on. "As I said before, you were in a coma for a week. Unlike most coma patients who have suffered a traumatic injury to his or her head and brain, you underwent one due to starvation."

Jasper glanced at the doctor and sneered at her. "I don't know what you think you're doing but I can tell you right now that you're wrong. I'm a quartz warrior," Jasper declared, her chest rising in pride, "I don't need to eat."

"Yes, you do," Dr. Maheswaranh said with an air of finality. She flipped through her papers on the clipboard for a moment and found the one she was looking for. She showed Jasper and pointed at the different numbers. "This is your blood sugar level when you first entered the coma, it should be around 100 milligrams per deciliter but yours was about 50 milligrams per deciliter. Most people would have died by that point."

The quartz gem still had no idea what the human was going on about. She looked away from the chart and noticed a pinch when she tried to move her right arm. She glanced down and noticed something sticking into it. The beeping noise increased in tempo as she felt the reserves of her humanity slip away as her eyes caught sight of the needle. Something snapped inside the quartz gem's mind and she could only think of one thing: run.

Jasper roared and began to struggle against the restraints, snarling as the needle caused pain to pierce her body. The beeping was at its highest, only serving to further agitate Jasper. She felt Dr. Maheswaranh try to push her back on the bed with a syringe in one of her hands when Jasper heard the door slam open. Jasper gave a hard pull and her left arm got free just as Pearl joined in Dr. Maheswaranh's efforts. Ignoring the crystal gem, Jasper reached over and tore the needle out of her with a yowl of pain. Blood began to spurt out but Jasper didn't care. The quartz gem continued to pull at the remaining restraint with everything she had.

The door slammed open again but instead of trying to help the other two sedate Jasper, Steven ran over and tried to pull Jasper's hand away from the restraint. "Stop!" he yelled, his efforts proving to be worthless as Jasper continued to tug. "They're trying to help you, Jasper!"

"Bullshit!" Jasper screamed, a hand flying out and shoving Steven away from her. Immediately, she felt something stab into her back harshly. She looked behind her in time to see Pearl glare down at her, her face hardened in a way that made Jasper's face whiten. It was the look of a warrior about to make a kill.

"Do that again," Pearl warned evenly. She let the spear off of Jasper's back so that she could point it at her chest, right where the quartz warrior's gem was. "and I will shatter you." She pushed the spear and a small clink was heard throughout the room, signaling that the weapon was resting on the gem.

Jasper only stared back at the crystal gem, knowing that if she tried to say anything it would only make the situation worse. She leaned back into the bed slowly to get the spear off of her gem. She heard Steven get up from the floor and walk over to her.

"Pearl, it's okay. I'm fine," Steven said. He lifted his shirt to show that he had no injuries from Jasper's shove. He put down his shirt and grinned at Jasper. "Thanks for not using your claws this time." He raised a hand and licked it. He went close to Jasper and glanced down at the bloody inner elbow purposely. "Can I uh-"

Jasper looked down and without saying anything, stretched out her arm to expose the wound. She shuddered in disgust as Steven placed his hand on the wound. The quartz gem watched Steven remove his hand and reveal that the hole had closed up. He smiled back at Jasper who just huffed and glanced at Pearl. The crystal gem simply stood there, the spear still in her hands but she held it on instinct, like she forgot she had the weapon.

"Steven, go wash your hands and wait outside," Dr. Maheswaranh ordered as she pocketed the syringe, sensing she wouldn't need it now. The boy glanced between Jasper and the doctor before finally settling on Pearl.

The crystal gem looked like she was about to argue with the doctor when she happened to glance at Steven's hand. The spear immediately disappeared and she started to study the hand, frowning at the blood drying on the skin. She glanced back at Jasper and to the arm. Shakily, she got up and stared at the arm. "You were bleeding," she said, astonished.

"No shit," Jasper growled. The beeping slowed back to its original rhythm as Jasper calmed. On a compulsion, Jasper bent her head to lick at the wound. As her tongue lapped up, she realized what Pearl just said. Her head reared back with a shocked yelp, her hand slapping down to cover the blood. "I'm bleeding," Jasper said.

"Not anymore," Dr. Maheswaranh said, trying to remove Jasper's hand. Jasper allowed the doctor to move it away and inspect the wound. She walked back and opened a nearby cabinet, grabbing a brown bottle and some cotton swabs. She went back to Jasper and grimaced at the spot where Jasper's tongue licked up some of her blood. Quickly and methodically, Dr. Maheswaranh used the cotton swabs that she soaked with the disinfectant liquid from the brown bottle to clean up the blood. Once the area was clean, Dr. Maheswaranh bent down and picked up the neglected IV tube. Jasper growled at the sight of the needle.

Amazingly, the human did not flinch and started the process of putting back in the IV tube. Jasper was silently impressed and she didn't try to stop the doctor from putting it back in. She hissed in pain at the initial stab and watched as Dr. Maheswaranh made sure that the needle would not come undone.

"There," she sighed, taping down the needle, "that should hold it. Don't try to remove it, it's giving you fluids." Dr. Maheswaranh picked up the folder that she had dropped when she tried to push Jasper back down. "Although, it doesn't seem like you need it. You have remarkable regenerative abilities; any human would have been in that coma for weeks or even months. Still, I would like to run some tests on you," Dr. Maheswaranh finished, glancing up at Jasper.

Jasper was still too busy staring at the needle. She bled when she pulled it out. As if she were a human. The beeping began to speed up again and she snarled at the machine, fed up with the annoying sound. She heard Steven snicker and Jasper turned her head to hiss at him before resuming her glaring at the contraption.

Dr. Maheswaranh followed Jasper's glaring eyes to the machine. "Oh, that's the heart monitor." She walked over and tapped against the glass surface to where the spikes were. "This is your heartbeat."

"Heartbeat!?" Pearl squeaked. "She can't have a heart! She's a gem!"

"I can't believe I'm saying this but the traitor is right," Jasper said, having a sour taste in her mouth at the confession. She looked at the monitor and her eyes followed every spike of what was her heartbeat. A clawed hand came up and rest over her gem. Jasper gasped as she felt the steady thump of her heart. She removed her hand and stared at it like it was a new being. "I have a heartbeat." She looked back up at Dr. Maheswaranh, "What is going on?"

Steven spoke up before anyone could answer. "You're like me now!" he said in excitement. Jasper looked at the boy and saw that he could barely keep his body still.

Jasper sneered at him, "I am nothing like you, brat."

His eyes dimmed at the words for only a moment before they were bright again. "Yeah, you are. Look Jasper," he lifted his shirt so that his gem was showing, "we both have gems yet we have heartbeats and have to eat and drink and sleep like humans!" He threw his hands in the air like he made some incredible resolution, "We're gem-human hybrids!"

The quartz gem snarled at the words but she couldn't deny the beeping from the machine or the thump of her heart. She saw Pearl tense up from the corner of her eye when she reached over and started to undo the restraints on her other arm again. Jasper ignored the gem and finally ripped the restraint off but she didn't try to hurt anyone like she expected everyone thought she would. She just sat up, groaning at the stiff back and sending a glare to the doctor. "Let's get this over with," Jasper grunted as she threw her legs over the bed. She tried to get off but Dr. Maheswaranh rested her hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"Don't try to get up just yet. I have some tests I need to conduct here." Dr. Maheswaranh glanced down at Steven and frowned at him. "Steven, go wash your hands, we have no idea what Jasper's blood could do to you." She looked up at Pearl, "You should go with him." Pearl was about to argue when Dr. Maheswaranh spoke up, "Send in the other crystal gem as a bodyguard if it will make you feel more comfortable."

Pearl looked at Jasper and her eyes hardened again but this time Jasper could see some hesitance. "Don't try anything, there's another gem besides us in the hospital and trust me when I say that she won't hesitate in shattering you either."

Steven frowned up at his guardian and grabbed her hand with the one that was not covered in blood. "Come on Pearl, we need to go." Steven more hauled Pearl out of the room than lead her. A moment later Garnet came in and stood next to the door with her arms crossed. She didn't say anything, only stared off in some direction.

"Okay," Dr. Maheswaranh. While Jasper was watching the gems, the doctor retrieved all the supplies she needed for an extensive checkup. She grabbed a new sheet of paper and wrote down Jasper's vitals before putting her stethoscope around her neck. "I wish to see your gem, is that all right?"

Jasper hesitated for a second before reaching up and pulling down her shirt so that her gem was exposed. She felt both eyes were studying the gem and she huffed at the obsession of her new gem. In truth however, Jasper was eager to know why her gem had moved and why it was in different shape and color. This was never heard of and if she had to stoop so low as to allow a rebel and a human to study her gem to get her answers, then she would just have to swallow the bitter pill. She felt Dr. Maheswaranh tap at it and Jasper shuddered, feeling a flush grow on her cheeks and her heartbeat quicken. "Don't do that," Jasper growled, her tone deeper than usual.

Dr. Maheswaranh seemed confused before realization made her blush deeply. She quickly removed her hand and wrote down a few quick notes. "The gem seems to be a source of," she hesitated, "stimulation." She looked at Garnet who seemed unphased by the sudden reaction. "Is this normal for gems?"

"No," was all Garnet said.

Dr. Maheswaranh looked at the heart monitor. "Too slow for a human," she muttered, writing it down on her sheet.

"Don't forget, Jasper was never human but she is no longer a true quartz gem," Garnet said from her spot near the wall. She walked over to the doctor and looked over her shoulder to see what she was writing down. "She's an entirely new being so perhaps comparing her to a human is not an efficient way to go about this."

"Then how do I know if she's healthy?" Dr. Maheswaranh played with the cuff of her doctor's jacket, glancing up at Jasper. "Without anything to compare her vitals to, I have no idea if she's about to die or if she's fine to leave the hospital!" she yelled out in frustration. Dr. Maheswaranh rubbed at her eyes and Jasper noticed that she had deep bags under them. How long since the doctor had any sleep?

Garnet rested a hand on the human's shoulder. "Don't think of it like that. Try to think of it as a new species, something nobody has ever studied before."

Garnet's words seemed to help Dr. Maheswaranh because she nodded and grabbed her otoscope and fitted on a new ear piece. "You're right, um, Garnet was it?" Garnet nodded with a small grin. Dr. Maheswaranh turned her attention back to Jasper. "I'm going to check your ears now. Please move back your hair."

Jasper did as she was told and grimaced as she felt the doctor put something in her ear. She could just make out some sort of light coming from the thing from the corner of her eye. "What is that for?"

"It's to see if your ears are clogged with anything." Dr. Maheswaranh answered as she moved to the other side to check Jasper's other ear. "Afterwards I'm going to put headphones over your ears so that we can see how well you can hear." The doctor removed the otoscope and wrote down some notes. She turned around to grab the headset and frowned at Jasper's horns. Dr. Maheswaranh gave the headphones to Jasper. "Try to put these on your head so that the ear muffs completely cover your ears.

Jasper tried to put the headset on but the horns got in the way. She moved the band back and tried to put on the headset like that but the tips of her horns still caught it. The quartz gem growled and shoved the headset back into the doctor's hands.

Dr. Maheswaranh sighed and put them down. "I can't run the test if these aren't on your head. How would you be able to hear the pings?"

Garnet spoke up again. "Jasper's hearing far surpasses a human's. She'll be able to hear the pings even if the headphones aren't on her.

Dr. Maheswaranh's eyes widened. "Really? How interesting." She rushed over to the machine that the headphones were connected to. She looked back at Jasper. "When you hear a ping, raise your hand." She turned the machine on and immediately Jasper and Garnet's hands went up.

"Just so you have something to compare the results to," Garnet said when Dr. Maheswaranh looked at her confused. Another ping went off and both hands rose again. After the fourth ping, both hands were raised. It was the same result for the fifth and sixth ping.

The pen flew down on the paper as Dr. Maheswaranh wrote down the notes, apparently now excited about the experiments. She tapped the end of the pen to her chin as she watched Jasper scratch at her arm in disinterest. "I wonder," she said to herself. She glanced at Garnet and back at Jasper. "I have an idea but I need to leave the room for a moment to get the appropriate supplies. Will you be all right alone with her?"

Jasper almost laughed, the human was worried that the crystal gem would be in danger if she left. Garnet turned her head to look at Jasper and shrugged. "I can take her."

Jasper growled at that, "That's only because you're a fucking fusion, freak."

Garnet frowned at the words and summoned her two weapons. She pointed one at Jasper's face. "Want to say that again?" she asked. Jasper noticed that the tone was lower than normal and guessed that it was the ruby that threatened her. Jasper simply growled and Garnet's weapons disappeared. "That's what I thought," she said, her voice now normal.

Dr. Maheswaranh looked between the two one last time before hurrying out of the room. Jasper looked down at the IV and watched as fluids entered her body. She wondered for a moment why she was so trusting of the human doctor, the woman could easily be giving her some kind of toxin or a solution that made her brain numb. But as she considered the options, she concluded that she was being paranoid. If the doctor wanted to immobilize her or kill her, she would have done it while she was in her coma.

After a few tense minutes, Dr. Maheswaranh came back into the room, carrying a device that looked suspiciously liked the one she used before. A look of relief crossed her face before she schooled it back to one of professionalism. The doctor started to set up the machine as she explained, "This is essentially the same type as device as before however, this one has higher frequencies that only dogs can hear" She plugged in the headphones and glanced back at the two gems. "Are you two ready?" Garnet nodded while Jasper grunted. Dr. Maheswaranh turned on the machine.

Just like before, both hands rose up as they heard the ping. It continued this way for three other pings, each one quieter than the last. Finally, on the fourth ping, Jasper's hand was the only one that rose. The quartz gem looked at Garnet expectantly, but the fusion simply shrugged. Another ping and Jasper was the only one that rose her hand. Dr. Maheswaranh seemed to get more excited with each ping afterwards, each time Jasper's hand raising without fail. When she finally could not hear anything coming out of the machine, she crossed her arms.

Dr. Maheswaranh checked at the machine and gasped in excitement at what she found. "Your ears are able to detect sounds that are 46,000 Hertz! A human can only detect 23,000 hertz. This is incredible," she exclaimed, eagerly grabbing another device and rushing to Jasper. When the doctor neared, Jasper saw that she was carrying something similar to the otoscope. She held it up to Jasper's eye and warned, "You are going to see a very bright light in a moment."

A small click was heard and Jasper hissed as her right eye was blinded. She dug her claws into the mattress of her hospital bed and heard it rip under her. With her left eye, she saw that Dr. Maheswaranh was watching her pupil's reaction with a grin of a scientist making a new discovery. "You pupils appear to be akin to a cat's. They can slit vertically when exposed to bright light. I wonder how far your eyes can see in complete darkness." She checked the other eye and turned off the device. She held up a finger and began to move it. "Follow my finger with only your eyes, try not to move your head." Jasper did the test with an annoyed sigh, she preferred the hearing test compared to this.

The doctor scribbled down some notes and took something out of her lab coat's pocket. It looked like one of those sticks of wood that held popsicles, Jasper thought to herself. "I need you to open your mouth now. I'm going to check your teeth and tongue." Dr. Maheswaranh held it up and Jasper opened her mouth slightly, starting to think that these tests were just to make her kill some time. "Wider," the doctor ordered.

Jasper complied and felt the wood press down on her tongue. She looked down to see Dr. Maheswaranh shine a light into her mouth, her eyes widening when she saw Jasper's sharp canine and fangs. Jasper felt one of her teeth being poked by a gloved finger and she was tempted to snap her jaws shut but one glance of Garnet and she knew that if she did, she would be bubbled without hesitation. Jasper felt the stick being removed from her mouth but before she could close it, she felt Dr. Maheswaranh grab her tongue with two of her fingers. The doctor gave a slight pull and shined her light on the tongue, making note that it had the same coloration as a human's. "Stick your tongue out as far as you can." Jasper rolled her eyes but did the command nonetheless, stretching her tongue out a good four inches. Dr. Maheswaranh quickly wrote down the length and she held up the stick. "Try to grab it with your tongue and hold it up without using your hands."

Jasper grumbled but her tongue wrapped around the stick and held it up for three seconds before she deliberately dropped it. "Happy?"

Dr. Maheswaranh just hummed to herself and wrote something down on her clipboard. She glanced at the equipment she had with her and then at Garnet. "Will it be okay if I examined her physical abilities?"

Garnet shrugged but her weapon appeared on her right hand. "As long as Jasper behaves," she said pointedly.

Dr. Maheswaranh grinned and ran back out of the room, giggling as if she just received the greatest present ever. Jasper watched her with a grimace, humans had not changed since the rebellion. They still get so excited over something that wasn't really that interesting. Jasper turned her eyes over to Garnet who went back to crossing her arms. "Explain to me why I haven't tried to run away yet," she grumbled.

"Because you have nowhere to go," Garnet answered, her hand coming up to fix her visors.

The doctor chose that moment to run back to the room and up to Jasper. She had a block of wood in her hands that was about a half an inch thick. "Okay I want you to bite this," she said, thrusting the block into Jasper's hands.

Jasper took the block of wood and studied it for a moment, wondering what could possibly come out of her biting it. She shrugged and opened her mouth, feeling her fangs grow longer and sharper. She bit down on the wood and continued to close her jaws, slowly piercing through the chunk of wood. When Jasper's mouth was fully closed, she carefully opened it up again so her fangs could slip out of the holes she made. Jasper took the piece of wood out and examined her work as her fangs resumed their normal size. There were four holes where her fangs went completely through and several deep dips where her other canines bit into the wood. She handed Dr. Maheswaranh the block of wood and the doctor ran her gloved fingers through the new dips and holes.

"Incredible," she whispered to herself, grabbing a sterile plastic bag and placing the wood into. She made sure it was closed properly before glancing back at Garnet. "I would like to take her outside now, if that is advisable."

Jasper's eyes widen at the thought of being outside. The only time she was ever allowed to go outside was when Garnet and Steven escorted her to the barn. She looked at Garnet and could tell that the fusion was weighing her options. Garnet met Jasper's stare and fixed her visors. "All right, but I need to get someone first." Without making sure that the doctor would be okay, Garnet left the room.

Dr. Maheswaranh did not seem to be afraid of being alone in the same room as the gem that once tried to destroy the earth. She looked over the results she jotted down and Jasper could hear her muttering to herself. "Perhaps the patient is more animal than human? A canine maybe. Or a feline more likely."

Jasper rolled her eyes as the doctor continued to talk to herself. She could hear Garnet's footsteps returning but there were two others with her. Jasper tilted her head as she stared at the door, trying to figure out who was walking with Garnet. A groan left her mouth when she realized that the other pairs of footsteps did not belong to two people but one. Or rather one annoying pink lion.

Garnet opened the door and Lion rushed in, immediately trying to get up on Jasper's bed. Jasper shoved him off each time, hissing at the creature who only purred in response.

"Oh no! There are no animals allowed in this hospital!" Dr. Maheswaranh said. She looked like she wanted to push the animal out of the room but was unsure if the lion would bite her if she tried.

"I said get off!" Jasper growled, shoving Lion back to the floor for the fifth time. Lion landed on the tiled floor and stared up at the quartz gem, still purring. "Why is this creature here? I would even prefer Pearl compared to this oversized fuzzball."

"Pearl is with the other doctors discussing your," Garnet trailed off for a few moments, thinking of the correct word, "condition. Steven said that we could borrow Lion for more of Dr. Maheswaranh's tests."

Jasper groaned and hissed at the lion when he tried to lay his head on her lap. She looked up when she heard more scribbling coming from the doctor. Dr. Maheswaranh wrote a few more things down before asking the quartz gem, "Have you always been able to hiss and growl?"

"No," Jasper grounded out through clenched teeth. She got off of her bed and stumbled forward a few steps, her body not used to carrying its own weight. Jasper steadied herself and stood up straight, brushing away some imaginary dirt from her clothes. She tried to take another step forward but the IV tube became taught. Jasper considered the option of ripping it out again but she didn't want to bleed so much like last time.

"If you are not up to walking around, we can postpone the tests until you are fully rested," Dr. Maheswaranh said.

"I am fully rested," Jasper protested, wanting to taste fresh air again, even if it meant having to put up with Lion and Garnet watching her every move. She gestured to the IV still in her arm. "Take this damn thing out and we can leave."

Dr. Maheswaranh frowned at Jasper's choice of words but she took out the needle nonetheless, quickly covering it with some gauze so it wouldn't bleed out. She turned off several of the machines and nodded towards the door. The doctor led the group out the door and through various hallways. The patients and doctors that happened to be roaming the halls stopped to stare at Jasper and Lion. Jasper fought the urge to head-butt or at least growl at each of them. It wasn't like the people of this strange town hadn't seen a nonhuman before.

After five minutes of walking and cramming into an elevator for two floors, nearly scaring an elderly woman to death, the group exited the building to go to the exercise yard in the back. Jasper looked at the various equipment and the track that encircled the yard. She could tell that most of the equipment was used to build up strength but some she had no idea what the purpose was. Jasper took a step away from the group before turning back to look at the doctor.

The doctor seemed to be assessing the different types of equipment and she walked over to one. It was a cylindrical bag of some sort that hung from a metal pole sticking up from the cement ground. Jasper followed Dr. Maheswaranh and tilted her head at it, trying to figure out what it is.

"Okay Jasper, I think this will do nicely," Dr. Maheswaranh finally declared. She rested a hand on the bag. "This is called a punching bag and we use it to build up strength in a patient's arms." Dr. Maheswaranh glanced at Jasper's head. "However, I want you to use your horns on it."

"You want me to head-butt the punching bag?" Jasper asked, a smile creeping up on her face.

"Yes, that is correct," Dr. Maheswaranh answered with a nod. "Try to hit it as hard as you - AH!" Dr. Maheswaranh shrieked as Jasper suddenly rammed her horns against the bag, causing it to be ripped off its metal handle and slam into the hospital's wall. It fell with a defeated thud and the doctor could only stare at the new crater adorning the once pristine white wall. She looked back at Jasper who was grinning triumphantly, her eyes now appearing the glow with primal delight. "V-very good Jasper," Dr. Maheswaranh said, starting to wonder if this was a good idea after all.

"Now what?" Jasper asked eagerly. It felt good to let some of the beast out. She could feel her claws extending and what she now recognized as her heart thumping from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She didn't care that Garnet and Lion was there keeping an eye on her or that Pearl was inside just waiting for any excuse to shatter her, all she wanted was to do was to have more fun.

Dr. Maheswaranh glanced back at the destroyed punching bag, gulping at how there was now a hole on one side and stuffing poking out of it. She looked back at the other equipment and narrowed her options, immediately crossing out all the expensive equipment that Jasper would most likely destroy. Her eyes settled on a tire that the doctors would sometimes have the athletes try to lift and roll. "Try lifting that," she said.

Jasper walked over to the tire and frowned at it. She grabbed one side with one of her hands and easily lifted it off the ground. "This is too light," she complained.

"Oh, then uh," Dr. Maheswaranh floundered for the first time in months in what to do with her patient. She glanced at Garnet for some help but the gem just shrugged. She looked back at Jasper who was starting to look bored. "Throw it as far as you can," she said after a minute, already regretting her words at the look of Jasper's face.

A wicked grin lit up Jasper's face as she gripped the tire with both hands. She twirled on the spot a few times, gaining momentum, before letting the tire fly. It flew far away from the group, even past the fence that enclosed the exercise yard and into the parking lot. They heard it crash into some poor civilian's car and the alarm blaring right after. Jasper only laughed at the man rushing out of the hospital to inspect the damage that she had caused.

"That isn't funny, Jasper," Garnet said, crossing her arms. "Now that poor man might not be able to go home."

"It's not my fault," Jasper responded, wheezing from laughing so much. By the diamonds it felt good to let loose her strength! "The human doctor told me to throw the tire so I threw it." She looked back at Dr. Maheswaranh. "Now what do you want me to do?" She pointed a clawed finger at another punching bag. "Do you want me to punch that?"

"No!" Dr. Maheswaranh yelled out. A blush covered her cheeks as she coughed once into her fist. "What I mean to say is that we already know that you're strong." Her eyes flashed from one exercise equipment to the next but each one she could imagine Jasper causing the hospital another expensive bill. She looked at the track and an idea popped into her head. "I think the next experiment to do is to test your stamina." She nodded towards the track. "Run as fast as you can for as long as you can."

Jasper eyed the track on the other side of the yard and then glanced at Garnet. The fusion fixed her visors and gave the quartz gem a thumb's up. Jasper was shocked by the amount of trust that the fusion was giving her and by the fact that she honestly hadn't considered escaping at that moment. Jasper started to jog the track, slowly gaining speed. After a lap, she was now sprinting but something didn't feel right. Deep down, she knew that she wasn't running fast enough but Jasper didn't know how to go faster.

The noise of something bounding after her caused Jasper to glance behind her as she ran. Lion was easily catching up to her and started to pass her. Jasper growled low in her throat and pushed herself even harder, running as fast as she could, but the animal still ran ahead of her. Something within Jasper's mind snapped and she leaned down until she was running on all fours. As she caught up with the lion and started to outrun _him,_ Jasper started to laugh. She always loved feeling the wind rip through her hair, trying futilely to hold her back, even before her damnable corruption. But now feeling the turf under her clawed hands and feet added to the sensation of freedom. Jasper pounded onwards, about to pass Lion again but this time the animal turned at the last moment and the quartz gem crashed into him. The two rolled to a violent stop and Jasper leapt away, snarling as she felt blood trickle down her side. She glanced down and saw that the shirt of her uniform was ripped open halfway, one of Lion's claws accidentally catching her side. Feeling a rage she didn't know she could feel, Jasper pounced on Lion, roaring and clawing at him, just barely able to keep herself from digging her fangs into him. Lion defended himself weakly, mewing like a kitten would when it knew it did something wrong.

Jasper's head whipped back as Garnet pulled the larger gem off of Lion by the quartz gem's horns. Jasper struggled against Garnet's grip but her body was too tired from the tests to wrestle out of the grip that the fusion had on her. Jasper snarled and hissed at the fusion but suddenly stopped when she felt something soft brush up against her gem. Her eyes flashed down to see that Lion had gotten back up on his feet and was now rubbing his head against Jasper's gem, purring softly. Jasper started to calm down despite herself and she stopped struggling against Garnet. She felt Garnet let go of her horn and Jasper slumped down, now sitting on the ground where she had attacked Lion, staring out into space dumbly. Lion backed up and looked at Jasper with eyes that showed no ill will.

"Incredible!" the three heard Dr. Maheswaranh exclaim and breaking Jasper out of her stupor. The doctor ran up to them and examined Lion's body for any wounds. Even though Jasper could have sworn that she raked her claws against his side and belly, there was no sign of injury on the animal. He gently pushed the doctor's hands away with his head and mewed towards Jasper. Dr. Maheswaranh turned around and noticed the bleeding side. "Let me look at that."

Jasper allowed the human to inspect her side without complaint, still staring at the animal. She had shoved him away, degraded him, and now attacked him and yet Lion still showed concerned for her well-being. The quartz gem did not understand the animal at all. She felt something cover her new wound and glanced down to see the doctor finish taping gauze to it.

"As soon as the animal started to purr against your gem, you calmed down." Dr. Maheswaranh said, more to herself than to Jasper. She removed her gloves and looked at the gem. "But I thought that your gem was an erogenous zone."

"Gems are much more complex than that," Garnet said. "They are the source of our entire being, without it we would not exist as you would not exist without your brain. It can be a source of pleasure, yes, but it can also be a source of comfort and pain." Garnet held out her palms so that both of her gems were visible. "Each gem is unique as is each human." She closed one of her hands so that only the gem that was Ruby was shown. "One can be rough and hot. The being can have a quick temper and yet be so protective of those that she cares for. She will be on your side through thick and thin, even if she knew that you were doing something idiotic and reckless." She opened her other hand, revealing Sapphire. "While another can be smooth and cold. She may seem like she has no emotions but once you get to know her, you find that she is the most empathetic person you will ever know. Someone who will listen to you when you wish and offer sound advice when you need it."

Jasper had a feeling that Garnet was explaining the gems more for her benefit than the doctor's but she didn't voice her opinion.

Garnet turned her head and lowered her visors so that Jasper can see all three eyes were looking at her. Jasper growled and crossed her arms. "I am not as complex as you think." Garnet shook her head with a sigh and started to walk inside. The doctor, lion, and quartz gem followed her and retraced their steps back to the room. When they entered the hallway, Jasper's ears picked up rapid pacing from her room. She groaned, not even having to catch the scent to know exactly who was in her room.

They entered the room to see Pearl pacing about, muttering to herself as her hands gripped at her hair. When the crystal gem caught sight of the group, she sighed in relief. "Do you have any idea what I thought happened!?"

"I ran some experiments on Jasper that required her to have more space than this room provided," Dr. Maheswaranh simply said. She looked over her notes again before handing them over to Pearl. "You should look at these and tell me what you think."

Pearl's eyes flashed between the four and started to flip through the notes. She hummed and muttered to herself, saying stuff like, "Not surprising," and "That's new." Jasper sat back into her bed and had to immediately shove off Lion. The animal wouldn't leave her alone!

Garnet watched everyone for a moment before turning to leave. Pearl looked up from the notes, "Wait, where are you going?"

"I have to tell Steven something," Garnet said, pausing in the door frame and looking back to the gem. When no one tried to stop her, the fusion left the room and walked towards the waiting room.

Pearl grumbled under her breath and resumed going over the notes Dr. Maheswaranh had written. From the teal blush spreading across her cheeks, Jasper guessed Pearl got to the part of her gem being a source of stimulation. Pearl rapidly flipped over to another page and Jasper snickered. She halted on one page and reread the notes several times before turning to look at Jasper and Lion.

"Lion can calm you down?" Pearl asked.

Jasper shrugged and absentmindedly started to pick at her horn. "I guess so. He made me run in to him and we started to fight. Garnet got me off of him and he just started to purr against my gem."

Pearl put a finger on her chin as she studied Lion who was staring at Jasper. She sighed and Jasper heard something along the lines of, "Really was Rose's," before the crystal gem went back to the notes. Pearl walked over to Dr. Maheswaranh when she had finished going over the notes and the two started to discuss Jasper right in front of the quartz gem. They didn't bother to keep their voices down, knowing that Jasper would still be able to hear them even if they whispered.

Jasper huffed and looked down at Lion who immediately started to purr again. "What are you looking at?" Jasper growled, using her right foot to push Lion further away. As soon as Jasper pulled back her foot, Lion went back to the side of her bed, staring up at her. After a few tries, the quartz gem finally gave up. Lion seemed to sense the defeat because his eyes closed and the purring grew in volume. Jasper hissed lowly at him before turning her attention back to the other two. They had finished talking and were watching the two. Jasper hissed at them too.

"Oh Jasper, stop doing that," Pearl said, rolling her eyes. Jasper only hissed again. "Anyway, Dr. Maheswaranh and I finished going over the notes and we believe that what Steven said earlier was correct, or for the most part anyway." When Jasper raised an eyebrow Pearl groaned, "When he said you two were the same. We believe that you are a hybrid." When Jasper still looked confused, Pearl walked over to the white board that held Jasper's vitals information. "May I?" she asked Dr. Maheswaranh.

"Let me help," Dr. Maheswaranh said, coming over to the board as well. They erased the information on the board and together they drew a Venn diagram, one side dedicated for humans and the other for gems. Where the two circles crossed, they wrote 'Jasper.' They spent ten minutes listing the things that Jasper shared and did not share with the two species. Once they were done, the board was filled with their writing, some even including drawings to better articulate what they had written.

"There," Pearl breathed, obviously proud of the finished product. She placed down the market and turned around to face Jasper. "Any questions?"

Jasper looked over the board, her eyes settling on the different images longest before her eyes met Pearl's. "Yeah, what did you write down? I can't read."

Pearl looked as if Jasper had told her the most offensive thing she had ever heard. "YOU WHAT!?" Pearl yelled out, absolutely mortified.


	5. Jasper is a WHAT!?

Jasper watched as Pearl paced around the room, completely ignoring the other three occupants. The quartz gem found it extremely amusing that the pearl was so appalled by her inability to read what they had scribbled onto the board. The three could hear Pearl mutter to herself, some actual coherent words and phrases coming out of the crystal gem every now and again. Jasper could make out, "stupid jaspers," and "can't read, even Steven can read," among others.

Pearl finally stopped pacing and turned to face Jasper. She sighed deeply and squeezed the base of her nose while her free hand gestured to the board. "How can you possibly not know how to read?" Jasper could tell that the crystal gem was losing her patience as she raised both hands up in the air in a flare of dramatic exasperation. "You've been around for thousands of years! What have you been doing with all that time!?"

"Simple," Jasper said, scratching at an itch under her left horn. "I'm a jasper. We were created to fight, not to waste our time on something as pathetic as reading."

"Pathetic!?" Pearl yelled, her voice cracking. Even Lion winced at the sound. "How did you do your reports for your missions or even know what they were if you didn't read them?" She would have sounded genuinely interested if not for the condescending voice. 

Jasper was starting to get irritated by Pearl's attitude. It had nothing to do with the crystal gem whether Jasper could read or not. So why did the pearl seem so personally convicted? "I had someone else to do all that. Hell, I even got that peridot to write my reports on that fuck up of a mission." A low chuckle rumbled Jasper's chest as she relived the memory. "All I had to say was that peridots were too stupid to write a simple report."

Pearl's left eye started to twitch and she raised a finger into the air. Jasper was somewhat surprised that it wasn't the middle one. "That is a low trick and you should be-" Jasper tuned out the rest, figuring that the pearl would try to make her feel guilty that she used Peridot's pride to her advantage. She glanced down at Lion who had curled up into a ball to take a nap. Sleeping sounded really good right now, Jasper realized.

Dr. Maheswaranh saw that the entire situation was starting to get out of hand. She cleared her throat to get both gems' attention. She looked at Pearl pointedly, "Perhaps it is best that we don't try to aggravate the patient."

Pearl's eyes widened as she gestured wildly to Jasper who was doing her best not to growl at the crystal gem or yawn. "She can't read! How can she possibly not know how to read?"

The doctor glanced at Jasper. "It doesn't matter now. Even though I am shocked like you, as her doctor my first priority is her health." She turned her body towards Jasper and cocked her head in the direction of the board. "Would you like me to explain what we have written down?"

The quartz gem yawned, baring her fangs, trying to hide the budding excitement inside of her. "Sure, whatever. At least it would stop the bird from squawking."

Pearl sucked in a breath but Dr. Maheswaranh spoke up before the crystal gem could say anything. "We believe that you are indeed a hybrid between a gem and a human like Steven. However, you have the difficulties of becoming one after birth, or creation, unlike Steven," the doctor corrected herself. She tapped at one of the points that Pearl had written down. "We, being the crystal gems and the doctors that know that you are here, believe that because of the reverse corruption, you are more animalistic in nature, hence your claws, fangs, horns, and your abnormal behavior."

"Not that you weren't beast-like before," Pearl muttered, loud enough for both of them to hear.

"Because the hybridization was not natural," Dr. Maheswaranh continued as if Pearl had never spoke, "your body is burning so much energy that your gem can no longer keep up with the demand. You need food and sleep like a human would in order to stay in your current form." She waited for the information to sink in before concluding, "If you don't acquire enough energy or rest, there might be a risk that you'll revert back to your corrupted state."

Jasper looked down at the new markings on her arms and claws. She could revert back to her corruption. She could go back to that hell hole. Her hand slowly rested over her gem, feeling her heart pound.

"We still don't know why your gem moved," Dr. Maheswaranh said, misinterpreting Jasper's actions. She glanced at Pearl who nodded solemnly. "Although we do have a possible explanation. As you still retain some of the er, aspects of your corrupted form, Steven could not truly revert you to your form before the corruption. As such, it is possible that your old gem was shattered during the healing process and a new gem was created to take over." 

"I don't understand," Jasper said, looking down at her new gem. "If my gem was shattered, I should cease to exist now." 

Pearl cleared her throat so she could get Jasper's attention. "Yes, well, if a new gem was created simultaneously as your old gem was shattered, it is possible that uh," Pearl faltered to explain, her eyes roaming the board, finding an answer that wasn't there. "Perhaps your memories transferred, along with some of the corruption and resulted in you." When Jasper didn't respond, Pearl sighed, rubbing her temples. "We don't actually know why your gem moved and changed shape. When Steven had healed Amethyst, her gem stayed the way it was but you are an entirely different story." A weak chuckled bubbled out of Pearl before she could stop it. "You would think that a beings thousands of years could figure this out." 

Jasper was quiet for a long time, mulling over what Pearl said. They don't know why her gem moved or even how. Did that mean that it could go back? And if it did, would she be corrupted again? "Has Rose ever done something like this before?" Jasper asked. She was terrified of the answer but she needed to know. She looked up at Pearl and she saw the walls going up but she could still easily read the pain in those blue eyes.

"No, Steven," Pearl said the name with such emphasis that it might have been comedic if not for the current situation, "has tried to reverse the corruption on one other gem and it worked, but not to this extent. The gem was more corrupted than whole and it didn't even last for a day."

Jasper gripped at the gem above her heart. Lion lifted his head and mewed at Jasper and for some reason, it made her feel a little bit better. "What you're saying is you have no idea what's going to happen to me?" Her eyes flashed between the crystal gem and doctor that were supposed to have all the answers before settling on the hand clenching her gem. "I could be fine but nobody has any fucking idea if this is going to last."

"We're not," Pearl confessed. "But don't forget that you're different from the other corrupted gems. They've been corrupted for thousands of years and you've only been in your corrupted state for less than a minute before Peridot poofed you. And you were corrupted after fusing with a corrupted gem. The others," the crystal gem hesitated and Jasper could see that the crystal gem was lost in the past, in that war, "they were corrupted by the diamonds." Pearl shook her head to clear it. "Both factors would make your corruption less severe." She turned her head to look at the board like she was making sure she had covered everything they written but both Jasper and Dr. Maheswaranh knew that the movement was so that she wouldn't have to look at Jasper anymore.

"I'm bored of this," Jasper said suddenly. "I wish to leave this place and sleep."

Pearl hid her relief poorly and she was the first to the door with Lion following closely behind. Jasper got off the table to follow the crystal gem but Dr. Maheswaranh stopped them. "Wait, take this." She gave Pearl a sheet of paper and looked at Jasper. "I'm giving her what I would recommend to a famine victim. You need to start eating only liquids and slowly build up to solids so your body can get used to digesting food and expelling waste. You also need a regular sleep schedule of about nine hours a night."

"Great," Jasper grumbled, "I get to waste the day away like the brat." She reached past Pearl and shoved the door open, smirking at the satisfying smack of it slamming into the wall. She marched pass the two and out into the hallway. Not knowing where to go, she waited impatiently with Lion as Pearl exchanged a few last words with the doctor before coming out.

"You'll have to come back in a month for a checkup." Without saying another word, Pearl started to walk down the hallway. Jasper and Lion followed her through the various hallways. Eventually, they went past one door and were in the waiting room. There were various people scattered throughout the place, people who were worried for the patients that may or may not come back. They all looked up expectantly, assuming that the trio were the loved ones that they missed so much. Each one looked away, apparently too disappointed that their families or friends were still somewhere in the hospital to be freaked out by Jasper's more than inhuman appearance. Except for a group of three at the far back of the room, sitting in the chairs closest to the exit.

"Jasper!" Steven yelled out, jumping out of his seat and running over to the trio. He wrapped his arms around Jasper, or at the very least her left leg. He looked up at her with a wide smile, stars in his eyes. "I'm so glad you're okay! We were really worried about you and we came to visit you every day!"

Jasper narrowed her eyes in confusion. "We?" Did that mean that the crystal gems weren't watching her every moment while she was in the coma. Did they really trust her that much to not to try and escape? Or did they just think that's she's too weak to escape?

Steven nodded with a grin. "Yep! Lapis and I came every day and sat here waiting for you to wake up. Peridot sometimes comes over too. They're here now." He pointed to the other side of the room where Lapis and Peridot were still sitting down, staring at Jasper. Steven looked up at Jasper and gave her leg a squeeze before going over to Pearl.

Jasper could hear the two start to talk about Jasper's treatment and the brat getting excited over what he could get Jasper to eat. However, she couldn't understand what the two were saying, she was too busy staring at Lapis and Peridot. Peridot got out of her chair and seemed to be debating whether to go towards the group or lead Lapis out of the hospital. Jasper made the decision for the green gem. She walked over to the two and could practically feel the tension rise with each step. When she was right in front of the two, Jasper opened her mouth to say something, anything really, but her mind became blank.

Peridot stood between Lapis and Jasper and looked up at her. "You're awake," she said to break the silence.

Jasper just nodded, staring at Lapis. "You said my name, from before" she finally said. Lapis winced as if Jasper started to yell at her. The quartz gem glanced away and rubbed at the back of her neck. "The brat said that you visited every day."

Lapis was quiet for a few moments and then nodded her head. "The crystal gems were busy so I took him." She nodded down at Peridot. "She came too."

"I only came because I was curious about the human technology!" Peridot retorted, trying to diffuse the tension or at least get Jasper's attention away from Lapis. "But as soon as I got here, they wouldn't let me anywhere near it." The green gem's face flushed in frustration as she pointed to the doors that led out of the waiting room and into the actual hospital. "The clods said that I would cause more harm than good! I just wanted to see it, not play with it." Peridot crossed her arms and glared at the door.

Jasper looked down at Peridot and then back at Lapis. She opened her mouth to say something but the others decided that moment to realize that Jasper was no longer with them. Pearl rushed over and stood between the other two gems and Jasper, her spear materialized and in her hands. The tip of it pointed straight at Jasper's new gem. A low growl rumbled in Jasper's chest and Peridot's and Lapis's eyes widened in shock.

"Don't," Pearl warned. The growling stopped but Jasper didn't back away from the crystal gem or her weapon, still glaring down at the crystal gem with her pupils slit. Pearl met her eyes steadily.

"Um guys, maybe we should go home so Jasper can rest," Steven called up. Pearl broke eye contact with Jasper and nodded, looking back at the paper that the doctor had given her, her spear still gripped in one hand. Jasper knew that the pearl was skilled enough that she would be able to thrust the spear and shatter her even when she was distracted by the list.

"We'll drop you off with Garnet and Amethyst and I'll go get the ingredients for your smoothies," Pearl said.

"Smoothies?" Jasper asked. She recalled something that the brat said about smoothies being delicious. Pearl nodded and looked over the list again but Jasper noticed that she didn't move from between her and the other two gems.

"Yay smoothies!" Steven yelled out. He calmed and either being unaware of the tense atmosphere or simply ignoring it, clambered up on Lion's back. "Let's go home." He patted Lion's head but the animal didn't move from his spot. Lion yawned and laid down, resting his head on his forepaws in preparation for a nap. "No Lion," Steven whined, poking a pink ear. "You can't sleep here, it's a hospital. Sleep is for home."

Lion opened one eye and yawned again before getting back on his feet. Steven made an excited sound and Lion started to walk towards the exit. Steven turning his body around so he could still see the other gems. "Come on guys!" he called out.

Pearl sighed and folded the list before looking up at Jasper. Jasper got the hint and started to walk in front of Pearl. She could hear Pearl walk behind her but also two other pairs of footsteps. The quartz gem glanced behind her and saw that Peridot and Lapis were trailing behind a few feet. Jasper stopped walking when she reached the exit, causing Pearl to groan in irritation.

Lapis and Peridot slowed down but when it became obvious that Jasper wasn't going to start moving again until they exited the hospital, they picked up their pace. They made sure that Lion, Steven, and Pearl were in between them when they left the hospital. Jasper felt her chest begin to rumble with a growl at the distance but she forced herself to take a calming breath. The quartz gem was about to say something but she was interrupted once more, this time by Steven.

"We have to go, Jasper," Steven said, reaching out and pulling at Jasper's shirt, as if he had the strength to drag the gem away. "It isn't the right time."

Jasper's eyes flashed down to the boy. "The right time?" she repeated. She felt a pit in her stomach start to grow as Steven nodded. She glanced up and saw that Lapis and Peridot grabbed the opportunity to start to walk away. The quartz gem began to walk after them but Lion stepped into her way, Steven pushing a hand onto Jasper's chest to make the gem look down at him.

"Garnet told me not to let you talk to Peridot or Lapis outside of the hospital," Steven explained, removing his hand.

This time Jasper did not try to stop the growl bubbling in her throat. "What does that fusion know?"

Steven shrugged from atop of Lion. "She didn't say." His eyes widened and he jumped up and down from his position on Lion in excitement. "But she did tell me to tell you to give her the alien!"

Pearl beat Jasper before she could ask. "Give who what alien?"

Once again Steven shrugged. "No clue but it's going to be so cool!" He patted Lion's head and the animal started to walk in the direction of the beach house. "Maybe if we hurry, we'll be able to ask her."

Pearl looked up at Jasper and then back at Steven. She sighed and nodded towards the sidewalk. Sensing that she had no other option, Jasper turned and marched away from the hospital with Steven leading and Pearl at her back, her weapon still in her hands in case Jasper decided to run.


	6. Reading Time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to put this out there so there isn't any confusion. This story is before the fourth season so there will not be any Veggie Head or the Famethyst. I may include references that have been revealed in the season but nothing explicit. I'm debating whether or not to make a story after this and include the events in season 4, just with Jasper. Although, I am also thinking about writing a college AU with the three homeworld gems.

Jasper released a growl as she felt something poke the side of her stomach none-too-gently. She rolled over so that her stomach was covered, however the finger simply started to poke her back. Another growl erupted from her lips but this time the sound was more from frustration than anger. The quartz gem peeked one eye open and read the clock that the brat insisted he set up on the small table next to her couch. 9:45 A.M. Jasper had only received four hours of sleep without a night terror waking her, the longest since she managed to get out of the hospital. The night terrors continued to plague her but Lion helped her a little bit, much as it annoyed the quartz gem. Jasper found that she could go back to asleep after waking from a night terror easier every night and that she could sleep for longer periods of time before waking up roaring and screaming into Lion's mane.

The same finger stabbed into her lower back and Jasper finally lifted her head to glare down at the hand raised to poke her again. For a moment, Jasper thought it was Dr. Maheswaranh coming to check up on her, but she realized the girl was far too small and young. She racked her brains to recall why the human looked so familiar. When she couldn't find the memory, she settled on hissing at the girl and at Lion who was sitting next to the mystery girl, staring at her with something akin to pride.

"Jasper, you really need to stop that," Pearl said. "It's rude and immature."

Jasper leaned up further and looked into the kitchen. Pearl was there, staring down at her with some leafy vegetable in one hand and a blender container in the other. Jasper hissed at her too but she got up into a sitting position on the couch, pushing away the blanket she was using. That was another thing that was new after being released from the bubble. Jasper could now feel cold and hot. She heard the human chuckle as the image of a crying cat in a spaceship flying away from an exploding planet was revealed.

"I didn't even know they made Cookie Cat merchandise," the human girl said.

"Cookie Cat?" Jasper asked, raising her arms high above her head to stretch them. She heard several satisfactory cracks in her joints and her claws extend to scratch at the air. Unfortunately, the crystal gems had plastic wrapped around the couch so Jasper could no longer dig her claws into the surface while stretching, lest the horrific screeching noise offended her sensitive ears.

"Um yeah, Cookie Cat is, or rather was, a type of ice cream sandwich," the human explained. "They weren't really that popular and were discontinued a few years back." She bent down and grabbed the blanket as if talking to a once-corrupted gem was the most normal thing to do in the room. She folded the blanket neatly and placed it on the coffee table.

Jasper watched the human girl and she finally recalled where she knew her. "I know you," she said. "You're that human that fused with the brat on the beach a few months back."

"And kicked your butt," the human girl added, earning a warning growl from the quartz gem. "My name is Connie by the way." Her eyes narrowed and her spine straightened in a show of strength. "You almost killed me."

The quartz gem raised an eyebrow and shrugged, a hand raising to cover a yawn. She watched as Lion climbed the stairs to lay on Steven's messy and empty bed. At least she didn't have to deal with the brat's insistent laughing, Jasper thought. "I have almost killed everyone in this temple," she stated matter-of-factly.

Connie cleared her throat, a look of disbelief crossing her features at how calm Jasper was. "Well, anyway, I'm here because of this." She reached into the backpack that she brought with her and got out a book.

Jasper looked down at the presented book. It was blue with funky words on it but that was not what caught her attention. There was what appeared to be some sort of humanoid feline wearing a ridiculous drooping hat. Jasper took the book and studied the abomination. "What is this?" she asked with a disgusted sneer.

"It's a book," Connie said, tapping the cover once. "My mom told me that you couldn't read." She must have saw the confusion on Jasper's face because she explained a moment later. "My mom is your doctor. She took care of you."

The quartz gem looked at the human closer and could now see the resemblance between Dr. Maheswaranh and the runt. Jasper wondered for a moment if she was a gem that simply didn't have enough material to create a full gem like Peridot but she realized that she didn't care. The runt was a runt, simple as that. She looked back at the book and opened it. The abomination was on nearly every page, along with two children and two …. blue-haired creatures.

"I asked Pearl and my mother for permission and they agreed to let me teach you how to read," Connie finished when Jasper closed the book.

Jasper looked up at Connie and scoffed at her. She tossed the book onto the coffee table and laid back down, throwing an arm over her eyes to block the light streaming from the windows. "I am not going to learn from a human maggot." She could hear the crystal gem march over to her and felt a harsh prod on her chest. She raised her arm slightly to glare at Pearl.

"You will not call Connie a human maggot," Pearl said. She crossed her arms and nodded to the book laying forgotten on the table. "You need to learn how to read and Connie was nice enough to offer her services. The least you can do is show some gratitude and try to learn at least once." She didn't even wait for Jasper to respond, she simply walked back and rummaged through the refrigerator to get various ingredients. "While you're reading, I will make you your smoothie."

Jasper grimaced at the thought of having to choke down whatever Pearl thought passed as a smoothie. She opened her mouth to retort that she couldn't be forced to drink anything the crystal gem made for her but instead she let lose a low hiss when she saw Connie sit down on the couch from the corner of her eye. A human runt was sitting on _her_ couch. "Mine," she growled.

Connie looked as if she was about to take the easy road and get off the couch but after a moment she straightened her back again and reached out to grab the book. Her voice trembled at first but as Connie continued to talk, it became steadier and stronger. "If you aren't getting up, we will just have to share the couch while I'm here."

The quartz gem stared at the human girl. She was not even half her size and Jasper could easily shatter her from the face of this wretched planet. But, she still met her eyes with a will that said she wasn't going to back down from this. Jasper was impressed, she could definitely see the resemblance between the doctor and her creation. The runt most likely inherited her bravery when Dr. Maheswaranh created her. She glanced down at the book being clenched in Connie's hands, her knuckles bulging out from the tight grip. Jasper gave the barest of nods and Connie's hands immediately relaxed as a grin spread across her face.

"Don't worry, Jasper," Connie said. "Pearl told me that gems, even quartz gems, learn exceedingly fast so we only have to suffer each other's company for a few weeks." She handed Jasper the book and reach back into the backpack to grab the other copy.

Jasper looked down at the cover and tilted her head. "What is that?" She pointed at the thing on the cover. It looked like a feline creature tried to fuse with a human, but it went horribly wrong. It didn't even have five fingers. "Is this… thing deformed?"

Connie glanced down at her own book and her lips quirked up into a smile. Soon, small chuckles escaped her as she answered. "No, that's one of the main characters." She reached over to point at the creature on Jasper's book. "His name is The Cat in the Hat. He looks like that because it's the author's art style."

"It's terrible," Jasper grunted. The quartz gem thumbed through the book and found more strange creatures drawn there. A whirling sound made Jasper look behind her and saw that Pearl was utilizing some sort of contraption. She witnessed the brat use it once or twice before and knew that the bigger foods went in it and some sort of liquid substance comes out. Jasper grimaced at the green color of the slush that the crystal gem was making, knowing that she would have to consume it if she wanted to stay in this form.

"That looks very unappetizing," Connie said. Jasper looked back down at the human who shrugged. "Basic rule of thumb of food is that the more unappetizing something is, the healthier it is." She gestured back to the book. "Let's get started." Connie pointed at the words and read, "The Cat and the Hat. Okay, now you say it back."

Jasper glared down at her own book, the symbols meaning nothing to her. "This is stupid," she growled. "What can I possibly do if I even learned how to read. Jaspers were created to fight for and protect their Diamonds," the quartz gem trailed off in the end. She pushed her bangs out of her face and grimaced as one of her claws clicked against a horn. "Reading is useless for me."

Connie shook her head and fixed her glasses. "Reading is not a useless skill, even for someone as physical as you." A finger tapped at the cover of the book. "Just get through this and I'll leave you to your couch."

A soft growl left Jasper's throat. "The Cat in the Hat," she grounded out, feeling ridiculous that she was allowing her time to be wasted with something as trivial as this. She could hear the gunk that Pearl had blended being slushed into a cup in the background and tried to prepare herself to swallow whatever abomination Pearl had made her.

Connie's mouth tilted up into another smile as she nodded. "Great," she said while pointing at one of the words on the cover. "Now, what is this word?"

"I have no fucking clue," Jasper said, her eyes going back to the cover.

"Don't swear in front of Connie," Pearl barked, marching over to the two on the couch with a glass full of the green gunk she created. The crystal gem handed Jasper the smoothie and frowned when the quartz gem grimaced at the scent. "You have to drink it all, Jasper and don't complain."

Jasper took a sip of the gunk and gagged immediately after. She was tempted to throw it across the room or at least flush it down the toilet but Jasper knew that Pearl would simply make her another one, all the while squawking at her. Jasper forced herself to take another sip and placed the cup on the stand next to the alarm clock. She stared pointedly at Pearl who let out an annoyed breath before going back to the counter and sitting down on one of the stools to watch the two from the kitchen. The quartz gem rolled her eyes as she settled back on the couch with the stupid book. Jasper ignored the snickering from the human runt. She knew that not being able to read should mean nothing to her, absolutely nothing at all, but for some reason the fact that the human runt could read rather than her irritated the quartz gem. She was supposed to be the perfect quartz warrior and having a human being better at something than her was unacceptable. Jasper pointed at the word, "Cat," she said.

Connie shook her head. "Close, but the word is The." She pointed at the word after the one she said. "This is Cat." She opened the book and gestured for Jasper to do the same.

For three hours, quartz gem and human sat on the couch, reading the book painstakingly slow. Several times, Jasper felt the urge to snap her teeth at Connie when the human laughed as the warrior mispronounced a word or gagged at the taste of the smoothie, and immediately being nagged at by Pearl after for acting more like an animal than gem. But the two managed to get to the end of the story without a fight erupting or anything being broken. Jasper slammed the book shut when she finished the last page and tossed it back on the living room table. She reached out to take the cup only to find that it was empty.

"Thank the stars," Jasper muttered, unable to decide if she was more grateful that she finished the book or that she no longer had to drink the green gunk. She glanced down at the human and noticed that she looked out of place, apparently unsure of what to do now that the quartz finished the book. "You're still on my couch," Jasper growled, however it was less of a threat and more of a statement.

Connie more jumped off the couch than got up. "Oh! Um, good job today," she said with an awkward grin. She placed her own copy of her book inside her backpack and shrugged it on. "I'll come back tomorrow with another book that we can work on."

Jasper grimaced at the words. "Another book?" she said with disdain laced in her voice.

"Going through one book doesn't mean you can read," Connie said. "Although, it's really amazing that you could read the last page by yourself, even if it took a few minutes."

Connie walked to the door before turning around and rushing over to the quartz gem. She quickly unzipped her backpack and rummaged around it for a few moments before she pulled out another book, this one much more thick than the last and without a drawing on the front. She gave it to Jasper and the gem flipped through some of the pages.

"There are no drawings," Jasper commented.

Another chuckle escaped Connie as she nodded. "That's because it's an actual novel." She gestured to the children's book on the table. "Think of it as a more advanced book. You can use it to practice when I'm not here." Connie reached over and tapped at the cover of the novel. "It's called _Fangs of Love._ I got it three days ago after Steven told me about the movie adaption but my mom said that it was too mature for me. Apparently, they toned down a lot of themes for the movie." Connie left after that and almost ran into Garnet who chose that moment to open the beach house door.

Garnet stepped aside so Connie could slip through before entering the beach house. She nodded in greeting to Jasper before walking over to the kitchen and writing something down on a sheet of paper. The fusion showed it to Pearl and the crystal gem read it with a deep frown.

Jasper looked down at the novel and opened it to a random page. She could only make out a few of the words and the rest were still just scribbles. It took Jasper a few tries before she realized that she could not make sense of the sentences with the limited vocabulary she possessed. For some reason, the fact that she could not read the book irritated Jasper and she made it a goal to learn how to read the novel, if only to shove it in Pearl's face.

She placed the novel on the counter and turned her head at the sound of the temple door opening. Jasper caught sight of Pearl entering the temple, the paper wadded up in a clenched fist. She looked over to Garnet, wondering what the fusion could possibly have told Pearl to upset her so much. Garnet met her gaze and only gave her a thumbs up.

Jasper grumbled under her breath and grabbed her cup, once again realizing it was empty. She placed the cup back on the counter and laid down on the couch to resume sleeping, growling at how Connie's scent still lingered on her cushions. The gem made a mental note to have the reading sessions outside and away from her precious couch.


	7. Donut Break

Jasper turned the page of the book that the human runt gave her. Connie just left the house after their reading session and had said that she was impressed with Jasper's advancements. Now the quartz gem could read at the tenth-grade level, although she didn't know what that meant. Jasper grimaced at a new word in her book and struggled to figure out what it was. After a few minutes of trying to sound it out in her head, Jasper slammed the book shut and tossed it on the living room table. She reclined back into her couch, wondering if she would ever learn what the elusive word was or if it even mattered. Fangs of Love proved to be an awful book, full of horrific puns and sex scenes that made Jasper want to puke.

The sound of the refrigerator closing brought Jasper's attention into the kitchen. Amethyst had her arms full with apparently a random assortment of foods, some of which Jasper doubted came from the fridge or should ever be placed in a mouth. The purple gem dropped her goods onto the table and began to create a crude version of a sandwich. Jasper sneered at the sight but she could not deny the rumbling of her stomach as Amethyst drowned her creation with ketchup.

As her ability to read grew every day, so did Jasper's appetite. She still could not digest solid foods but she was able to drink more of the smoothies, something Jasper could not decide if it was a good or bad thing. The quartz gem went back into her laying position and watched as the ceiling fan turned lazily. With every full cycle, Jasper's eyes fought to stay open longer.

"Hey, Jasper!"

Jasper groaned and rolled onto her side so that she did not have to face the brat bounding down the stairs. She felt one of Steven's hands shake her left arm in an attempt to gain her attention. Jasper glanced behind her shoulder to glare down at the smiling boy. "What do you want now?"

Steven was not deterred by the coldness in Jasper's words. "I want to treat you to Big Donut!," he exclaimed, rocking on the heels of his feet. "Think of it as a reward for trying so hard at reading and not attacking Connie."

Jasper raised an eyebrow and considered her options. She could stay at the beach house just to spite the human brat. Perhaps she could even rake her claws against the couch, the gems having decided to trust Jasper enough that they removed the plastic from the furniture. However, she hadn't been outside since the hospital and it was getting stuffy in the house, since she had no clearance to enter the temple itself. Jasper sat up and sighed, grunting an affirmative before getting off the couch. The quartz gem more marched than walked over to the backpack shaped as some sort of human food. She believed that it was called a cheeseburger. Jasper zipped open the backpack and made sure that it held all of the medical equipment Dr. Mesawarhwan had given Pearl. She placed her book in one of the less full compartments before zipping it close and shrugging it on. If the brat tried to talk to her she would just start to read. The backpack easily weighed fifty pounds and Jasper was secretly glad for the weight, having nothing to keep her in shape.

The quartz gem exited the beach house without a glance at Steven, knowing that the boy would simply follow her outside. She leaned against the railing and lifted her head to the wind, taking a deep breath of the clean outside air.

"Steven! Hey, Steven!"

Any hope of peace was ruined by the high-pitched voice invading her sensitive ears. Jasper released a low growl and turned her head to watch as Steven ran down the stairs, laughing all the while. She should have known that there was a catch. Although she just wished that it wasn't in the form of the small green technician. Jasper shoved herself off the railing, smirking at the littering of cracks spreading across where her palms had abused the wood.

She walked over to the edge of the porch where the stairs began and grimaced down at the sight of Steven embracing Peridot in a hug. The green gem returned the hug quickly with dark green cheeks, apparently still unused to Steven's lack of personal boundaries. Peridot's eyes glanced up and Jasper smirked down at the technician, barely biting back a chuckle when Peridot's face paled. Peridot ended the embrace and looked as if she wanted nothing more than to run away from the house and Jasper but Steven kept his hold tight.

Jasper walked down the stairs, each step causing Peridot to appear more and more uncomfortable with the entire situation. When Jasper reached the foot of the stairs, the quartz gem simply leaned against the cliff's face and looked down on Peridot.

Steven finally noticed that the green gem had become stiff in his arms and he ended the hug to look at her. He followed her wide eyes to Jasper and then grinned back at Peridot like it was no big deal that the quart gem was outside without any restraints or guardians. "Oh, did I forget to mention that Jasper is coming too?"

"Yes!" Peridot managed to squeak out. She took a step away from Jasper as her eyes flashed about, trying to find any metal that she could control to protect herself and Steven. When she found none, Peridot grabbed Steven's arm and placed herself between him and Jasper.

Steven only laughed and patted Peridot's back in a vain attempt to calm her. "You don't have to do that. Jasper is tame now, she won't hurt us."

Jasper growled at the choice of words and almost smirked at how Peridot instinctively took a step back which caused the technician to back into Steven. "I can hurt you both but I rather stay here than go back to that bubble." The quartz gem crossed her arms and sneered down at Peridot who gulped. "Now are you going to continue to act childish or are we going to move finally?"

Peridot's eyes hardened and she let go off Steven's arm. "I am not a child," she said. Even though Peridot stood straight and stared up at Jasper, a small tremor leaked into her voice. To hide any further discomfort and fear, Peridot turned her back on Jasper and started to march away, half-dragging half-walking with Steven.

The quartz warrior was a little stunned by Peridot's sudden show of bravery at leaving her entire back exposed. Jasper glanced back at the beach house and then started to follow the duo as they walked towards the boardwalk. She turned her head this way and that, analyzing and familiarizing herself with Beach City's layout. Jasper was unimpressed with the barbaric attempts of creating buildings and vehicles. Jasper also noticed that even though Steven and Peridot were well away from her reach, Peridot still made sure that she was a little behind Steven and in between him and Jasper. Jasper found the position rather annoying, especially when the human boy had to crane his neck around the green gem to yell something to Jasper, even though the quartz warrior could have heard him just fine if he had whispered it. Her eyes went back to the duo in front of her as Steven informed her what a car was. Each new thing that Steven pointed out to Jasper was responded with a grunt as the quartz gem thought about how inferior everything was compared to the technology at Homeworld.

"How are things?" Peridot finally spoke for the first time since the trio started walking. The tremor in her voice was gone but Jasper could easily read the unease in the way Peridot walked. The technician had her fingers splayed out and Jasper could tell that Peridot was feeling all the metal around them, ready to use it at her disposal at a moment's notice.

Steven had to turn around and walk backwards to answer Peridot. "Great! Garnet fixed the hole that Jasper created in the living room yesterday." One side of Jasper's lips twitched up in a smirk. She would have to find another spider to squash soon. "Oh, and Lion didn't try to sleep on top of Jasper last night."

Whatever smidge of joy that Jasper was feeling was snuffed out by the boy's last statement. She scowled and crossed her arms again, imaging wiping the confused look from Peridot's face when the gem looked back at her.

"Lion sleeps on Jasper?" Peridot asked Steven, looking back in front of her when she saw the nasty scowl Jasper was sending her.

Steven nodded. "He does most nights but this is the first time that he didn't!" He was practically skipping with all of his excitement. "Lion always wants to be around Jasper now but he would wake her up in the middle of the night when he laid on top of her. So, this was the first time that Jasper got her full eight hours."

Bullshit, Jasper thought to herself. Jasper placed a hand over her gem and felt the thump of her heart right underneath. Last night was the first where she didn't have any night terrors and gotten a full night's sleep. That damnable animal knew when she was having night terrors and would wake her up on purpose before she destroyed the house. Jasper was also aware that Steven knew when she had night terrors as well but so far the boy kept his observations to himself. The brat was annoying at times but Jasper had to admit that he knew when to keep his mouth shut.

Once again, Peridot turned her head to look at Jasper. "You sleep now?"

Jasper gave a simple grunt in response, not willing to disclose any information on her new form and its demands.

Steven frowned at Jasper's grunt and went to answer Peridot for the quartz gem. "Yeah, and she needs to eat and drink like me too. Her new form isn't all that stable so her gem doesn't give off enough energy." He gave a shrug like it was no big deal while Peridot halted to stare up at Jasper, her eyes trained on her nose where her gem used to be. For some reason, Jasper felt heat rise up on her cheeks as Peridot continued to study her face with a mildly concerned expression.

"What happens when you don't sleep or eat?" Peridot asked, this time actually asking Jasper instead of fishing for answers from Steven.

"I'm not sure," Jasper answered truthfully, her cheeks still flushed from Peridot's staring. She didn't understand why her body was reacting the way it was and Jasper hid her confusion with a grunt. "But I don't plan to find out." She glanced up at the building in front of them and released a sigh of relief. "We're here by the way so you can stop staring at me."

It was Peridot's turn to sport a blush and she coughed into a closed fist before crossing her arms behind her back. "Well, I was simply trying to discern whether you were a threat to humanity or not." She turned around and opened the door, her eyes glancing up to find the source of the responding ding. "We may continue on our endeavor."

Jasper rolled her eyes at Peridot's attempt to act calm and in charge. She marched past the green gem and looked about the store. She saw Steven rush past her and run directly to the glass container where all the different types of donuts were displayed. Jasper turned her head this way and that to look about, finding nothing that peaked her curiosity. She glanced down and saw that Peridot was staring at everything in awe, her eyes flashing from one object to the next within seconds.

Jasper rolled her eyes again and walked over to where Steven was still trying to decide which donut he wanted. She looked down at the two humans manning the counter. One was Steven's height and had blonde hair and was currently staring at her, or more accurately her horns. The other was taller and had his back to Jasper, completely unaware of her presence. The short one continued to stare at Jasper as she poked the other's back repeatedly, each poke becoming more and more aggressive.

"Sadie, will you quit that!" The man called out, turning to face the short one. "I'm actually trying to do work her-, what is that!?" he yelled, reaching underneath the counter to grab something. His hand came back up with a chocolate covered donut and he pointed it at her.

Steven stood up from his kneeling position in front of the glass container. "Hey, its rude to call someone a 'that.'" He looked up at Jasper. "Her name's Jasper and this is her first time here so be nice." He pointed at the donut that the other male was still holding like a weapon. "Can I buy that donut, Lars?"

Lars slowly lowered the donut he was wielding, his eyes not straying from Jasper. Jasper narrowed her own eyes and felt someone watching her. She glanced down and saw Peridot also staring at her, a look of concentration on her face as her right hand was clenched into a tight fist. Her eyes streaked over to where a freezer holding something called Lion Lickers was floating a few centimeters above the ground, something that most people would not be able to see at one glance except if you were trained to notice such things. Realization dawned on Jasper's face and she almost smacked her head for not realizing it sooner. The gems sent Peridot to watch over her! The whole Peridot being surprised by her coming along was all an act. An errant growl forced its way out of her throat and she couldn't even feel the satisfaction of Lars and Sadie jumping in shock at the sound. The growling stopped and Jasper shook her head slowly, raising her hands, palms up to show that she meant no harm. Peridot's eyes narrowed but she relaxed her fist, the freezer touching the ground without even a sound. Jasper's hands fell back to her sides and she turned to face the humans once more.

"Sh-she's safe to be around, right?" Sadie asked, her hand fisting Lars's shirt.

"Yeah, but she does growl a lot." Steven gestured to the donut Lars was still holding. "Can I please buy that donut, Lars? I'm really hungry."

Lars glanced between Steven and Jasper a few times before he nodded slowly. "Uh, sure." He went about ringing up the donut and taking Steven's offered money, his eyes still flashing up to Jasper during the whole process. Jasper in turn glared down at the man, wondering if she could at least punch him without being sent back to the basement in a bubble or having a freezer thrown at her.

"Do you, um, want anything?"

It took Jasper a moment to realize that Lars was talking to her. She looked up at the menu but most of the foods were solids and she knew she couldn't risk eating something that may send her back to the hospital. Her stomach seemed to disagree with her as it grumbled quite loudly. The quartz gem felt a tug on her pants and she looked down to see Steven smiling up at her. She groaned, knowing that the human child wanted to order for her. She didn't say anything, only jerking her head up once to give him permission.

Steven's smile widened and he slapped down a five-dollar bill on the counter. "A large banana smoothie and make it chunky!"

A shudder ran through Jasper's spine. "I am tired of those smoothies," she said.

The smile dimmed a little. "But you'll like this one! It tastes really good and it isn't all that healthy for you." When Jasper still looked unconvinced, Steven continued with a sly smile, "Pearl wouldn't approve."

For some reason, that logic made the smoothie sound much more desirable than a moment before. "Fine," Jasper grunted. She watched with little interest as Sadie prepared the smoothie. At least this human had the decency not to glance at her every second. When the smoothie was done Jasper was a little surprised that the concoction was not a nasty green color like the ones Pearl made her. She grabbed it and took an experimental sniff before sipping it. Her eyes widened in shock as the drink hit her tongue. She finished the drink in one huge gulp and slammed the cup down on the counter, not missing the other three staring at her in awe instead of fear and distrust. "Another!" she said. She had no idea that smoothies could taste so good! Jasper now had the suspicion that the pearl was intentionally making her smoothies taste so disgusting. One day she would make the gem pay but right now she wanted another smoothie.

"Uh, sure, that'll just be another two dollars since it's a refill," Sadie said. Lars was already preparing her drink when Steven handed over the correct amount.

Jasper eagerly grabbed the cup and once again downed the entire thing in one gulp. She looked down at Steven expectantly and the boy handed over another two dollars. Lars refilled the cup but as Jasper went to drink it, he set another smoothie in front of her.

"On the house," he said. He looked down at Sadie, "How much you want to bet that she can drink this one too without needing to take a breath?" Apparently seeing her drink a few smoothies was enough to convince the male that she was not going to hurt him.

Sadie glanced between Jasper who had finished her third cup and the one in front of the gem. "I don't gamble, especially when I know I'm going to lose."

Lars seemed discouraged for a moment but when Jasper reached for the last cup, he started to bang his fists into the counter. "Chug, chug, chug!" he chanted.

Jasper shrugged, feeling a bit smug with all the positive attention she was receiving. She upended the cup but when she drank half of the contents, a horrible pain took root in her brain. The quartz gem dropped the cup, spilling the smoothie onto the floor and a bit on Peridot's legs. She ignored the prompted yell and gripped at her head, yowling as the pain got worse. "What the fuck!? Shit!" she cursed.

"Don't swear in front of Steven!" Sadie chastised the gem.

Jasper simply hissed in pain and tried to rub at her temples to make the pain go away to no avail. She noticed that Peridot was no longer yelling at her but laughing at her, along with Lars and Steven. Jasper whirled her head around and tried to snarl at the green gem but ended up cursing more which caused Sadie to chastise her more which then caused the other three to laugh even harder. "I'll do whatever you say, just make the pain stop!" Jasper finally got out.

Sadie huffed and grabbed a half-empty bottle of soda from under the counter. "Drink some of this and then press your thumb to the roof of your mouth." She demonstrated for Jasper while the quartz gem quickly drank the rest of the bottle. Jasper did what she was told and the pain ceased after a few moments. She sighed in relief before glaring down at the still snickering Peridot.

Peridot was unfazed by the glare, a few giggles escaping the gem every few seconds. She sobered a little and wiped away a tear that formed at the edge of her eye.

Before Jasper could growl or hiss at her, she felt another tug on her pants. She looked down at Steven who was grinning up at her, a few splashes of banana smoothie dirtying his pants and shirt. "What do we say?" When Jasper did not answer, he gave the clothes another tug. "Come on, Jasper. Be nice."

Jasper growled low in her throat. "Thank you," she ground out.

"Huh," Peridot said, her head tilting a little to the left. "I guess an old gem can learn new tricks."

"Don't forget that Garnet isn't here to protect you," Jasper warned, baring her fangs and elongating her claws in a display of power.

Peridot gave a little meep and took a step back, accidently kicking the forgotten cup and making more of a mess. "L-Lapis would be mad if you tried to hurt me," she said as her right hand clenched into a fist again. The freezer hovered above the ground but Jasper noticed that it was more unstable this time, floating back down before rising again, like Peridot was having trouble concentrating.

A low growl erupted from Jasper's throat but she allowed her claws to revert back to their normal length and covered her fangs. Jasper felt ridiculous that the mere mention of the water gem could make her heart thump faster and harder in her chest. Hiding her frustration, the quartz gem stomped out of the shop, feeling everyone's eyes trail after her. She leaned against the bike rail outside and waited for Steven and Peridot to come out. After a minute, the door ding but Jasper didn't look behind her.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Steven said, walking up next to Jasper. He looked up at the quartz warrior and noticed the tense shoulders. "Hey, don't worry about the mess," he said, patting Jasper's hip in what he thought was a reassuring manner. The action only served to make Jasper grumble under her breath. "I made plenty of worse messes, like one time-"

Jasper started to tune Steven's voice out as he continued to talk about some fire crystals and donuts. The boy started leading the gems back to the outskirts of Beach City but Jasper noted that it wasn't in the direction of the temple. She looked around her new surroundings and realized with a start that they were walking towards the barn. Jasper's eyes skirted to Peridot and saw the green gem fidgeting with her fingers. Apparently Peridot also noted the direction Steven was leading them and she didn't like it. Jasper only hoped that the technician didn't give voice to her misgivings and have Steven take them back to the temple.

Whether it was because Peridot was trusting Jasper enough or more likely she was afraid of what Jasper would do, the green gem kept her mouth shut and eventually the trio could see the barn in the distance. Jasper felt the urge to sprint past the two but she barely managed to keep the pace she was going, knowing that displaying her eagerness might cause Steven to turn them around. Her eyes flashed across the building and landscape, hoping to catch a glimpse of the water gem. However, she could not find Lapis anywhere and the wind was not strong enough to carry her scent that far away to the group.

Before Jasper could possibly get close enough to look inside the barn, Steven stopped walking. He turned around and looked up at Jasper with a serious face. Jasper met his gaze and once again saw the knowing look in his eyes. She knew without a doubt that Steven knew that she was just barely able to keep herself still and not go off to look for Lapis.

"Okay, Jasper," he began, squaring his shoulders in an attempt to look more tough. "I understand that the others," he nodded towards Peridot who looked as if she was a second away from bolting to the barn, "don't trust you enough to do this but I know you. I know you won't hurt Lapis and I know that you won't hurt Peridot because that would upset Lapis." He turned his attention to Peridot. "You don't trust Jasper, I get that. She hurt a lot of people but she's different now."

Peridot frowned at Steven as if she was trying to figure out what Jasper was doing to make him say the things he did. "I don't think this is a good idea," she pleaded. "Let's just take her back to the temple and away from Lapis."

"So Lapis is there." Jasper took a step towards the barn but Peridot immediately went in her way. Jasper didn't growl or threaten Peridot, she simply bent down and picked up the green gem. There was no metal for Peridot to defend herself with. A series of punches and kicks came from the technician but Jasper ignored them all, looking down at Peridot. "Stop." The one word was enough to make Peridot cease her struggling against the bigger gem.

Steven frowned up at Jasper but did not say anything. He looked at Peridot and gave her an encouraging grin. "Don't worry, Peridot. I'll only be gone for a few minutes and if anything happens, you can call me from your tablet."

Peridot stayed limp in Jasper's grasp as she weighed her options. Sensing that she couldn't do anything else, she nodded with a resigned sigh. "Fine but if she breaks anything I'm holding you responsible." She slapped at the arm holding her. "And let me down!"

Surprising Peridot, Jasper let go of the green gem and watched as she fell down to the ground. Peridot quickly got back on her feet and brushed off any dirt that got on her uniform. Jasper looked back at the barn with a suppressed grin. Finally she could talk to Lapis.

"I'm going to go now, tell Lapis I said hi!" Steven called back as he began to run back to the temple. Jasper turned her head to watch him go, wondering not for the first time what made the human boy tick.

A cough brought her attention back down to Peridot. The technician was obviously very uncomfortable with being alone with Jasper. She resumed playing with her fingers as her eyes studied the dirt.

"You visited me at the hospital with Lapis," Jasper said, breaking the minute-long silence.

Peridot jumped at the statement like she didn't expect Jasper to remember that detail. Her cheeks turned a darker emerald as her fingers picked at one another. "I wanted to see the human contraptions."

"You already said that," Jasper responded.

Peridot nodded and rubbed at her arm as the blush deepened. "Yeah but I also wanted to, well, thank you for not barreling into me before. You probably would have poofed me with your, um," Peridot glanced at Jasper's horns, "you know."

Jasper's eyes widened but before she could respond, Peridot turned around and marched into the barn. She stayed where she was, her cheeks flushing once more as a hand absentmindedly touched her horn. Perhaps the humans had put something in her smoothie when she wasn't looking.


	8. Meep Morps

Jasper stayed where Steven had left her for a few minutes after the boy had run back to the temple. She just stood there, her mind blank and her shoulders stiff with the infinite possibilities that could occur if only she took a step towards the barn. She could faintly hear some tinkering from inside the building but she couldn't tell if it was Peridot or Lapis.

Lapis.

Jasper could feel her heart thumping in her chest from excitement. She was surprised that she couldn't hear it and the ground didn't shudder with each beat. But it also pounded with fear. She clenched and unclenched her hands, feeling claws threaten to break the skin of her palms on several occasions. Even if the claws pierced the skin, Jasper would probably not even notice the blood weeping from the wound. She was so close, finally able to talk to Lapis, to see her and touch her. A long whine rose up from Jasper's throat as the quartz gem began to pace. Back and forth, back and forth, but never making any progress to the barn. All she had to do is walk into the barn and demand that Lapis see her. But what if the gem used the pond full of water against Jasper and poof her. What if by poofing her, Lapis undid the healing process and Jasper became corrupted once more? The quartz gem shook her head, Lapis wouldn't do that, wouldn't use her powers against her. Not again. But what if she did? A hand raked through her hair, Jasper taking solace in the pain when one of the claws scratched at her scalp.

She was excited a moment before, wasn't she? Jasper groaned in frustration and she kicked at the ground, watching a small cloud of dust gather in the air. What was wrong with her? She was the strongest quartz gem that was ever created! She fought Rose Quartz and her rebels and lived to tell the tale. Jasper looked back at the barn and then at the direction where Steven had left. Before she could convince herself otherwise, Jasper turned and marched towards the barn, a determined frown on her face.

However, a light breeze halted Jasper in her tracks when she was a few feet away from the ajar doors. The scent of Peridot and whatever was in the barn filled her nose but there was not a hint of Lapis. Had the water gem flew off while Jasper was struggling between her two options? She must have. The quartz gem's shoulders slumped in defeat as she took the last few steps to enter the barn.

Peridot was indeed the one that was causing all of the tinkering sounds. The technician had her eyes closed with her arms raised up in the air. Her body was shaking with how focused she was, a light sheen of sweat making her skin glisten. Peridot was using her metal powers to construct something that looked like a mix between a lion and wolf with rusty scraps she must have found lying about in the barn. Already there was a rough outline of the animal but there was a lot more work to be done. Jasper shrugged off the cheeseburger backpack and let it hit the floor without any care. The gem turned her head to look at Jasper, the metal that was once floating in the air crashing down and adding even more dents to the surface.

Jasper ignored the smaller gem, however. She was too busy taking in the building that Lapis now called a home. She watched the different fish swim about in a tank that covered one of the walls, a cylindrical structure that did not belong with the barn jutting out from the other side. Some green stuffed alien with a tophat floated by, stuffing coming out of the rip at its neck. Jasper narrowed her eyes in confusion but something else caught her attention. To the left of the fishtank was a stick with which three objects hung from, each connected to the stick by a string. Jasper didn't have any idea what the objects were but they all carried Lapis's scent. Next to the stick was a mound of dirt with a lone leaf sticking on top. Even if Lapis's scent wasn't on it, Jasper knew she would recognize the creation belonging to the water gem. A finger came up to touch the leaf that reminded Jasper of her old gem but something stopped her. It wasn't hers.

"I just feel trapped."

The quartz gem turned her head to look at the last of Lapis's creations. She walked over to it to get a better look. It was something that she thought Steven called a television showing a human boy wearing a green camper's uniform. He would repeat the statement, "I just feel trapped," over and over again. Two mirrors stuck out of the television, both angled so that they captured the boy's face. A growl rumbled in Jasper's chest as the phrase continued to be repeated, her hand closing into a fist as she fought the urge to ram her horns into the horrible contraption.

"Don't," was the only warning Peridot gave Jasper. The quartz gem looked behind her and saw that Peridot had moved to the middle of the room, a hand raised. Several of the shrapnel she was using earlier twitched on the ground.

Jasper let out a huff of annoyance but she left Lapis's last creation alone. She sniffed at the air with her eyes closed, trying to find anything that would help her figure out Lapis's whereabouts. When she couldn't find any, Jasper leapt up onto the second floor of the barn. There was a mattress placed seemingly without thought in the middle of the floor but there was nothing else of real importance on the bare floor. Jasper walked to the mattress and took a deep breath. She could smell Lapis and reasoned that this was where she rested. Her head tilted to the left at another scent and she buried her face into the mattress, taking an even deeper breath. "Peridot?" Peridot's scent was definitely there, but why would the two gems share the same mattress? Jasper shook her head to clear it and took another sniff. The two scents were old, perhaps a few weeks. With a snarl, Jasper walked to the edge of the floor and leapt down to the first floor, landing on all fours with a thud and causing everything to shake for a moment. She straightened her back, her fangs bared as she hissed at Peridot.

"Lapis isn't here," Peridot admitted. The gem looked up at Jasper with tired eyes, not reacting to the hiss like Jasper expected. The green gem shrugged like it was no big deal that she deceived Jasper and walked back to inspect her sculpture.

"I know," Jasper responded, tapping her nose. A frustrated sigh left her mouth as she sat down on the blue hammock strung up between two poles. It gave a weary creak at Jasper's weight but it held. "I should've known she wouldn't be here." Her eyes bore into Peridot's back as she growled, "You told her."

Peridot whirled around to glare at Jasper, the shrapnel she had just placed on the sculpture falling back down with a rejected crash. She looked absolutely enraged. Her cheeks flushed with anger as her hands clenched into trembling fists. Jasper doubted that Peridot could even lift a nail to defend herself with her mind clouded with this much anger. "Of course I didn't tell her, you clod! She wasn't here to tell!" The gem was too upset at the accusation to think better her words. "You think you're the only one that misses her?" Peridot's eyes widened as a hand slapped against her mouth but the damage was already done.

"What?" Jasper's head reared back.

With a few steps, Peridot was right in front of Jasper. Any fear that Peridot had displayed for the bigger gem was replaced with anger. She pointed at her as she yelled, "She left because of you! Right when we got back from that hospital, Lapis just flew away!" The anger diminished as Peridot's eyes dulled with sadness. A hand quickly reached up to brush away a stray tear. "She didn't even say goodbye."

"And you didn't think to mention this to anyone?" Jasper managed to growl out. Lapis had been gone for more than a month and Peridot didn't bother to tell anyone. The quartz gem got off of the hammock and began to pace throughout the barn. She had too much energy to stay still. Jasper was playing nice for so long and right when she was about to be rewarded, she comes to find out that that person had been long gone. "Why?" Jasper demanded an answer.

Peridot didn't say anything for a few long moments, instead playing with her fingers as she looked up to the second floor as if Lapis was going to appear any second. The green gem looked down and muttered, "Lapis is several thousands years old, she can handle herself."

The response didn't qualify Jasper. She marched over to Peridot and bent down so that they were eye level. When Peridot tried to turn her head, Jasper gripped her chin to force her to look into her piercing eyes. Peridot grabbed at the hand and used all her strength to push it away but Jasper gave her chin a light squeeze, warning her. The green gem stilled and looked at Jasper's eyes with her own. Jasper could see the walls being constructed in the green eyes but she could also see the shock at the gentle touch Jasper was giving her. The quartz gem almost scoffed, she wasn't that stupid to leave marks. Jasper continued to stare into Peridot's eyes, trying to read what the technician was hiding.

"Why?" she repeated.

Peridot glanced away but Jasper didn't give her chin another squeeze. The quartz gem knew she had Peridot cornered. Jasper followed Peridot's eyes to the last of Lapis's creations. She looked back at Peridot and waited for the green gem to answer. "She just," Peridot began, looking down at the hand that kept her there, "she needed time to think and I didn't want to interfere." Jasper frowned at the concern that leaked into Peridot's voice. Her eyes lifted to meet Jasper's and they hardened. "If I had told anyone, you would have found out somehow and force me to take you to her." Peridot gave the hand another shove and Jasper let go of her, watching her fall to the floor. Peridot glared up Jasper and got to her feet. When Jasper didn't do anything except meet her gaze, Peridot threw her arms out. "Well? Aren't you going to try to hurt me? I knew Lapis left and I didn't tell anyone."

Jasper's head tilted to the left. The thought of shattering Peridot didn't even enter her mind. "No," she said simply, returning to her spot on the hammock.

The two stayed quiet after that, both just studying one another. Jasper could hear nature going on right outside the barn, the wind brushing against the leaves that had fell, the small laps of the pond hitting the grass, and a few birds chirping as they flew about. None of it held any interest for the gem. The one thing that did was gone and the peridot currently standing in front of her didn't know where she was. Jasper's eyes narrowed suddenly as she once again left the hammock. "You know where she is," she said.

Peridot didn't show any reaction but Jasper knew she was right. "You know," she repeated, taking a step forward. "Where is Lapis?"

"I don't know," Peridot said, her voice full of uncertainty as she corrected herself. "I'm not sure but I have an idea of where Lapis might go." She straightened her back and stared up at Jasper with crossed arms and a determined look on her face. "But I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?"

Green eyes widened in shock at the question. "Because if I tell you, you're going to go after her!"

Jasper didn't bother even trying to lie. "You're right. I've waited months to see her and now that I finally get to," a hand lifted to indicate the barn, "she isn't here and you're hiding her whereabouts from me." Her voice lowered to a whisper, gentle enough that Peridot's eyes swerved from the second floor to look at the quartz gem. "If you really miss Lapis so much, come with me and we'll bring her back."

The hope brewing in Peridot's eyes twisted something in Jasper's stomach but the quartz gem didn't know what. "You just want to talk to her?" Peridot asked.

"I don't know," Jasper answered honestly. "Right now I want to see her and I know that you do too."

Peridot thought about what Jasper said for several minutes. She could sense that the quartz gem was telling the truth but it was still very risky to tell her where Lapis might be hiding. Her eyes glanced up at the second floor where Lapis usually sat reading or pretending to sleep. She looked back at Jasper, her eyes resting on the horns before sliding down to look at the new markings on her arms. Finally, she looked at Jasper's eyes. They were the only thing that hadn't changed, at least physically. They were still as yellow and intense as before but there was something desperate in them now. "Fine," she said at last with a sigh. Peridot walked to the barn doors and looked back at Jasper who hadn't moved, still waiting to learn where Peridot thought Lapis flew off to.

Peridot pushed her visors back up before talking again. "We're going to Mask Island."

Jasper almost regretted asking where Peridot thought Lapis was. "You think that-"

"Yes," the green gem interrupted, glaring up at the bigger gem, "I think she went to the place where she lost control of Malachite."


	9. What have I done? What have YOU done?

Jasper stayed still in front of the door of the beach house. Peridot was fidgeting next to her but at least she was quiet. The quartz gem's eyes remained closed as she listened for any sounds inside the building for several minutes. Finding none, Jasper opened the door and entered, walking straight to the warp pad. She had to wait a few moments for Peridot to gain the courage to enter the house and to head over to the device. The green gem looked like she was about to get sick or run away screaming or perhaps both. She placed a shaky hand on the warp pad and immediately her eyes were no longer green but rather linked to the warp pad's system, thousands of bits of information flying across her irises. She frowned in concentration as she tinkered with the device's lock with her technopathic powers. Jasper watched Peridot at work, impressed that the green gem did not need her limb enhancers to gain access to the pad's inner workings and reactivate it.

"There," Peridot said after five minutes. She removed her hand and got on the pad itself. The technician took a deep breath to calm her nerves before glancing up at Jasper. At the focused look on the quartz gem's face, Peridot's calm façade broke as she resumed playing with her fingers. "I'm starting to have second thoughts. Lapis is probably flying about over the ocean and no- Agh!"

Before Peridot could deactivate or even get off the warp pad, Jasper activated it and a tunnel of light surrounded the two. They floated in nothingness for a few moments before the light and beach house disappeared. They were now standing in the middle of a jungle, shaded by the large canopies. Jasper looked down at Peridot who's eyes wouldn't stop roaming their surroundings as if anything was going to pop out from the shadows and attack them.

"We're here," Jasper said, stepping off the warp pad and heading in a seemingly random direction. She heard frantic running behind her and knew that Peridot decided to follow her instead of warping back to the temple and warning the others.

"We shouldn't be here," Peridot whispered, closing the space between her and Jasper even more. She looked up at Jasper and noticed that the quartz gem was sure with her steps, like she knew exactly where to go. Peridot did not know whether to find the thought comforting or unnerving. She never went to Mask Island so she wasn't sure where Jasper was leading her. Peridot suddenly wished that she was back at the barn where everything stayed the same and there was metal that she could protect herself with. She should have at least brought her tablet.

Jasper turned her head to look at the smaller gem and saw the confliction playing on her face. "This is more important than whatever ridiculous notion you may have about this place." Even as the words left Jasper's mouth, her stomach coiled into painful knots. She knew where Lapis would be on this island and going there meant meeting some very unpleasant creatures.

"W-where are we going?" Peridot finally asked. She looked about and could have sworn that she seen the tree with a chunk of bark missing five minutes ago. Peridot worried that Jasper was lost and leading them in circles. A shaky hand pushed up her visors as she gulped. What if she never got back to the warp pad and Lapis showed up at the barn with Peridot walking aimlessly on Mask Island?

"We're going to a beach on the island," Jasper answered. She halted and lifted her head, taking a long sniff before turning left. She glanced down and saw that Peridot was unconvinced. "I know where I'm going."

Peridot shook her head and pushed up her visors again. "How? This forest probably goes on for miles!" She pointed to a tree to the left, this one having three gouges scarring the trunk. "I saw that tree before! We're lost!" she yelled, her hands gripping her hair. Peridot began to pace back and forth as she continued her tirade. "We're lost and it's my fault! I should have stayed at the barn and sent you back to the temple! I shouldn't have reactivated that warp pad! What if Steven finds out?" Her eyes widened considerably as she stopped pacing. "What if Garnet finds out?" She turned around and stared up at Jasper. "She's scary when she's angry and she'll probably tie me to the fence again. I don't want to be on a leash!"

Jasper rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "That fusion won't find out and neither will the brat. Besides, he thought Lapis was in the barn so he shouldn't care if we're going after her. We'll find Lapis and get back before anyone realizes we're gone." The quartz gem gestured to the tree that Peridot pointed out earlier. "We've never seen that tree and I do know where I'm going."

"How do you know where you're going!?"

"Because I remember." Jasper hesitated before adding, "I remember being Malachite and seeing the jungle from the beach. If we keep heading west, we'll eventually hit the beach and then all we have to do is look for Lapis." Jasper ducked her head as she walked under a tree branch, hissing in agitation when her horns scratched into the wood. She looked down at the green gem, expecting Peridot to make some smartass joke or at least snicker. However, the technician was too busy looking around them in search of the water gem to realize what Jasper just did.

"You care for Lapis a lot," Jasper commented, bending low to avoid another branch, this time taking great care that her horns did not scrape against it.

"We live together so of course I care about her!" Peridot said, sounding a little offended at Jasper's casual statement. Even as she talked, her eyes did not cease their searching but her cheeks did become a shade darker.

Jasper scoffed at the reason. "I live with the pearl and I know for a fact that she is waiting for any reason to fight me." Her lips lifted in a feral smile as her claws itched to be dragged across something. "Perhaps I'll give her a reason after we find Lapis."

Peridot's eyes finally settled on the bigger gem. "You really think that is a good idea?" she asked in disbelief. "You want to help me find Lapis, bring her back home, and then get in a fight with Pearl?"

A nod was her response. "It's been too long since I've had a fight." Jasper frowned soon after as a hand lifted to brush through her hair. "Although, the pearl wouldn't be much fun since she's weak."

A small chuckle escaped Peridot before she could stop it. "Amethyst told me that Pearl makes up for her lack of physical strength with speed and willpower. She's also smart too and I suppose you can say she is an adequate strategist." Her chest puffed up as she declared, "Not as great as me of course."

Jasper suddenly stopped walking and Peridot bumped into her. Before the green gem could share a few choice words, she was silenced by the warning grumble that shook Jasper's chest. For a moment, Peridot thought that the growl was directed at her but she noticed that Jasper faced straight ahead with her eyes flashing from one spot to another as if they were searching for something.

"J-Jasper?" Peridot took a step closer to the quartz gem and tried to peer into the shadows of the forest. She couldn't see anything but she knew that Jasper did and whatever she saw she didn't like. Peridot glanced up at her and gulped at the feral look on Jasper's face. Her deadly fangs were bared as a growl continuously left her mouth and her eyes were piercing and angry. Peridot had no doubt that Jasper was ready for a fight and whatever was causing this reaction from the quartz gem was about to be shattered.

"Stay behind me."

Peridot almost let out a squeak at Jasper's voice. She didn't think that Jasper could form a coherent sentence at this point. The quartz gem bent down until her hands were touching the ground. She stalked a few feet ahead, her body staying low to the ground as if she was some tiger about to pounce on her prey. Peridot would have found the entire situation hilarious if she wasn't so freaked out now. She scrambled over to Jasper but a low hiss made her stop. She tried to look at whatever made Jasper upset but she still couldn't see anything past the vegetation. Peridot cocked her head when she started to faintly hear drums beating in the distance. She glanced down at Jasper who was still stalking forward carefully like she was afraid of making any noise at all.

The two continued to travel like this, Jasper on all fours walking like a big and dangerous cat and Peridot trying her hardest to catch up with her and still be quiet. The sound of beating drums grew louder and Peridot could now hear indistinctive voices. She knew they were getting close to something but she had no idea why Jasper was leading them towards it.

"We should go around them," Peridot whispered to Jasper. When she didn't get a response, she huffed and reached out to tug at Jasper's shirt or hair to get her attention. A moment later however, her hand fell to her side. Peridot knew that it was better to simply follow Jasper, no matter how strange the quartz gem was acting, than to try to fight her and wind up poofing without finding Lapis.

SNAP!

Peridot couldn't help the little shriek at the sudden sound of a dry twig snapping under her foot or how Jasper's head whipped around to glare at her with slit pupils. She was about to apologize when the sound of drums abruptly stopping and hurrying caused her throat to close. Peridot just alerted whoever Jasper was stalking of their presence and might even cost them their lives. Jasper rose up on her two feet and bent forward so that her horns were ready to ram into anything. Her fingers curled into savage claws as her body tensed.

A minute passed and nothing happened. No monster leapt out of the shadows and Jasper didn't go charging and leaving Peridot exposed. The quartz gem's chest rose and fell as she took heavy breaths, presumably trying to distinguish how many enemies were near by their scents.

Finally, the underbrush in front of the two gems rustled and Jasper released a battle cry that sounded more like a roar of a deranged animal. Peridot shivered at the sound, infinitely glad that she wasn't the one that had to face the once-corrupted gem.

The underbrush continued to rustle until something jumped out of it. Rather than a corrupted gem or any other horrifying monster, a watermelon in the shape of a dog ran up to the two, barking happily all the while. He sprinted to Jasper and jumped at the quartz gem's legs, his tail thumping down on the ground. Jasper stared down at the watermelon dog in confusion, her fangs still bared for a fight.

Peridot peaked from her hiding spot behind Jasper's body and watched the watermelon dog pant and try to climb Jasper. "You were chasing that!?" Peridot had the sudden urge to punch and kick Jasper. "I thought we were going to be attacked!"

Jasper still didn't say anything, staring down at the dog. She slowly relaxed her stance and watched as the dog ran in circles, trying to catch its own tail. "I uh," she said perplexed. Her eyes flashed back up as the underbrush rustled once more. Three watermelons walked out of the vegetation, each in the rough shape of Steven and each carrying a spear. When they caught sight of Jasper, they all dropped their weapons and ran up to the quartz gem. They stopped a foot away from her and stared up at her with their seed eyes. One stepped away from the group and laid a hand on Jasper's knee. It started to pat Jasper's leg and the two others quickly joined in. They patted her as if they couldn't believe that Jasper was truly there. After a few pats they started to hug her legs. "What is going on?" Jasper asked, completely confused by this turn of events. She had expected the watermelon creatures to attack but they were hugging her! She had no idea of what to do and she looked down at Peridot.

Peridot however was too busy staring at the creatures with a slack jaw and wide eyes. She finally snapped out of her stupor and shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea but they seem to like you."

"But why?" Jasper asked, bending down to push away the watermelon Stevens. When she started to push two of the watermelon Stevens, they simply started to hug her arms. She had no clue how to get them to stop hugging her. "They should be trying to shatter me, not embracing me! Malachite-"

At the name of the fusion, the watermelon Stevens opened their eyes and as one hissed angrily.

"Maybe we shouldn't use that name around here," Peridot suggested once the hissing stopped.

Jasper was about to agree when she felt a tug on her hand. One of the watermelon Stevens gave her arm another tug before letting go and running forward. The other two and dog quickly followed the leader. "I think they want us to follow them," Jasper said, still unsure of what was happening.

Peridot nodded in agreement and the two started to walk where the Stevens had been running. After a few minutes, they walked onto a freshly plowed field. Several other Stevens were towing the soil and at the sight of Jasper, rushed over to her to start the process of patting and hugging her. More and more watermelon Stevens came over to pat and hug Jasper like it was a ritual of some sort. Small watermelon Stevens had necklaces of flowers in their hands and tried to get Jasper to wear them.

Jasper growled lowly as the sound of laughter reached her ears. She looked down at Peridot who seemed to have broken out of her stupor to laugh at Jasper. The sound brought the attention of the Stevens away from Jasper however and on to Peridot. The laughter immediately stopped and Peridot's eyes widened in fear. She tried to move closer to Jasper but the Stevens were too quick. They pulled her into a tight hug with Peridot becoming stiff and her cheeks flaming a brilliant forest green. "Jasper help," she squeaked, struggling against the watermelons' holds.

The quartz gem would have left Peridot to the watermelons devices for the way that the green gem had laughed at her but she needed her to help find Lapis. Jasper reached down and picked up Peridot by the nape of her uniform. Peridot grabbed onto Jasper's arm like it was a life preserver and stared down at the Stevens, fearing that they would jump up and grab her. With the technician out of reach, the Stevens resumed their hugging of Jasper's legs. Jasper simply endured the touching, figuring that it was a smidge better than fighting all of them. She could have easily destroyed them but she didn't want to find Lapis covered in goop.

"Why do you like you so much?" Peridot asked, still clinging to Jasper's arm. She scooted herself up so that she was now hanging from Jasper's neck like she was some sort of living back pack. If Jasper wasn't paying so much attention to the watermelon Stevens she would have thrown Peridot off or at least growl at her. Peridot had to move some of Jasper's hair to the side so she could look down at the watermelons. They had stopped hugging Jasper and was now peering up at the both of them. Peridot wished that they had gone back to the hugging, the seeds for eyes were very unnerving, especially when they don't blink. "Didn't you try to destroy them as Malachite?" Peridot whispered to Jasper.

The Stevens heard the whisper however and as one hissed at the name. Jasper whimpered in pain at the sound, it was much louder now there were at least twenty watermelon Stevens instead of just three hissing. She raised her fists but after a few moments the hissing stopped and the Stevens resumed their staring. Jasper relaxed her fists as it finally occurred to her that the watermelon Stevens didn't associate her with Malachite. To them, the fusion and Jasper had nothing to do with one another. Jasper shook her head in wonderment, these creatures weren't attacking her because to them she was a stranger! She grunted when Peridot yelped at the sudden moment and gripped at Jasper's hair for support.

"Stop tugging," Jasper yelled at Peridot who stilled, her hand still clenching Jasper's hair however.

"Stop moving around then!" Peridot yelled back.

Jasper growled at her but it was cut short by a tug of her hair. She was about to grab Peridot and leave her at the mercy of the watermelon Stevens but movement caught her attention. The Stevens looked at each other and moved so that an aisle was created that lead to the two gems. Another watermelon walked through the aisle but this one was much older than the others and wore a straw hat and dress. He walked up to the two of them and lifted his stick to point at Jasper, the seeds rattling inside the dry fruits at the end. He turned around and started to walk away, the other watermelons cheering as he went but not leaving their spots.

Having no other choice, Jasper began to follow the old watermelon. He led them through a village of some sorts. Watermelon Stevens all stopped what they were doing to look at the two gems. They would run up and give Jasper a quick pat and hug before moving away so another Steven could do the same. Jasper was now used to the strange ritual and took her time to look around, hissing when Peridot would accidentally pull on her hair whenever she turned her head too quickly. Occasionally a family of Stevens would leave their straw houses and their child would try and pat Peridot as well as Jasper, but Peridot was well out of their reach.

"Where is he taking us?" Peridot asked.

Jasper had a feeling she knew but she shrugged like she didn't. The two entered the village's center and saw a half-destroyed statue of a watermelon Steven baby. Half of his face was gone and his left arm was embedded in the ground a few feet away. The leader turned his head and looked pointedly at Jasper. The quartz gem met his gaze and lifted her chin. The others may have made the distinction of Jasper and Malachite being two separate beings but the leader knew better. Still, he simply shook his head and continued his trek without calling any attention to the trio.

"Jasper, look." Peridot pointed off to the statue's side and Jasper turned her head to look. There were several mounds of dirt and on each mound was a necklace made of pink roses. There had to be at least thirty mounds where a farm could have been created or several straw houses. Jasper had no clue of what purpose the mounds served and knew that Peridot didn't either. Something told her that she was the cause of the mounds and for some reason, guilt chewed at her belly. Jasper pushed the feeling away and studied the roses, wondering where the Stevens found them on this island.

Rattling brought the gems attention back to the leader. He had lead them to a cliff at the edge of the village. Jasper grimaced at the cliff and looked over at the water. The leader had led them to where they had once sacrificed the Stevens to Malachite. She looked down at the leader. He nodded his head once and lifted his arms to imitate the statue in the village's center. He left the two of them to go back to the village without another word.

Peridot let go of Jasper's shoulders and jumped down back to the ground. She looked about in search of Lapis but Jasper was still staring at where the leader had left them with a frown. Peridot walked this way and that, looking down the cliff and at the nearby vegetation. "Lapis isn't here!" Peridot finally said after five minutes of fruitlessly searching. She marched in front of Jasper and pointed in the direction of the village. "He led us on a wild goose chase!"

"No," Jasper said, turning her back towards Peridot. She marched to the edge of the cliff and kneeled down to look at its face. She could still see the gouges on the rock from her battle with Alexandrite. "He led us here because Lapis is here."

"Where?" Peridot asked. "There's nothing here but a few rocks and sand! We're lost!"

Jasper glanced at Peridot and then went back to surveying the landscape. "We can't see her because she's not on the island."

"But you just said she was here!" Peridot took a deep breath to calm herself and pushed up the visors that had become skewed. "Where then is Lapis Lazuli?"

The quartz gem turned her head to look at Peridot. Even though the green gem tried to act calm and collected, Jasper could easily read the worry in her eyes. Jasper sighed and pointed to the ocean. "She's there. She's protected in water and can defend herself with the entire ocean if she must."

Jasper got back up on her feet and bent down to pick up Peridot. Peridot gave a squeak and slapped Jasper's arms but the quartz gem held on. Ignoring the curses that Peridot was hurtling at her, Jasper jumped off the cliff. The curses turned into a terrified scream and instead of punching Jasper, Peridot gripped at her shoulders and buried her head into her chest. Jasper landed with a thud on the beach and let go of Peridot. The green gem had such a strong grip on her that she didn't fall down on the sand. Peridot was panting wildly as she glared at Jasper.

"Don't ever do that again!" Peridot yelled, letting go and landing on her feet.

"It was the quickest way off the cliff," Jasper said, her eyes scanning the water around her. She knew Lapis was there and knew that they were there thanks to Peridot's scream. She took a step forward but backtracked as two hands made of water rose from the ocean. Jasper gulped at the sight of the ice-tipped fingers, feeling her heat pound at the thought of what they would do if they landed a hit on her.

Peridot didn't seem to notice the danger they were in because she ran towards the hands, calling out Lapis's name all the while. A third hand snaked out of the ocean and slammed into the beach, separating Jasper and Peridot.

"What are you doing here!?"

Jasper almost smiled at the voice until she realized that the question was directed towards Peridot. She could just barely make out a figure walking out of the ocean and Peridot running towards her. Jasper growled and tried to walk around the barrier but it grew and icy spikes formed from the surface. She stopped and could hear Peridot talking to Lapis and perhaps gesturing towards Jasper but she couldn't make out the words. The wall faltered and slowly receded back to the ocean, revealing Peridot and Lapis.

Lapis looked horrible. Her skin was a dull blue and there were bags under her eyes. But worse was the way she was looking at Jasper. She looked at the quartz with such hatred but Jasper knew that it was to cover an even more dangerous emotion. Fear. Jasper held her hands up in a display of peace.

"I just want to talk," she said.

"No," Lapis turned around and started to head back to the ocean. "Just go." She looked down at Peridot. "You should go too." Lapis had to turned her head away from the hurt expression and two wings of water sprouted from her back.

Jasper growled and charged at Lapis. When she was a few feet away, she stopped, her eyes watching the hands movements. They stayed where they were but she knew that it wouldn't take them even a second to rip her apart. "I came all this way to see you and I'm not going to let you run away again." Lapis still hadn't turned around and Jasper snapped. "Look at me damn it!"

Lapis whirled around and Jasper took a step back on instinct. The water gem looked so tired but also very angry. "Why can't you just leave me alone!? I don't want you, can't you get that!?" She took a step towards Jasper and several more hands rose from the ocean. "Do I have to shatter you for you to finally leave me be?" When Peridot tried to say something, Lapis looked at her. "Don't get involved."

"I'm already involved," Peridot said incredibly. "I'm the one that reactivated the warp pad so we can come and bring you home!" Peridot looked close to tears but she wiped angrily at her eyes before yelling, "I'm the one who brought Jasper here because obviously you wouldn't come back if it was just me!"

"Just you?" Lapis repeated. The hands began to lose form and dissolved back to the ocean. Lapis turned so that she was fully facing Peridot. "I needed to be alone. I thought you knew and understood that."

"Of course I know that but it doesn't change the fact that you left without saying anything." A few tears did spill from Peridot's eyes and she slapped away Lapis's hand when it reached out to brush them away.

Lapis flinched at the slap even though there was no way that it could have hurt her. The water that formed her wings fell onto the sand, forgotten. She looked down at the silently crying gem with conflicted eyes before whirling around to scream at Jasper. "This is your fault! If you just stayed corrupted in that bubble none of this would be happening!"

Even Peridot was shocked by the venom in Lapis's voice. Jasper felt her heart plummet but another emotion quickly overtook her pain with its intensity. A furious snarl ripped out of Jasper's throat as she stormed over to Lapis. She glared down at her as she poked her chest, too angry to feel satisfaction when Lapis stumbled back. "My fault? You think you're so innocent!?" She jerked her head down at Peridot who was now watching the two with a fearful expression, unsure of what was going to happen. "You're as much responsible for this as I am," Jasper growled. When Lapis's eyes faltered for a moment, Jasper knew she hit the jackpot. "You cannot continue to pretend that those months never occurred. You can't pretend that Malachite never existed!"

"Stop," Lapis whispered, taking a step back.

The quartz gem knew she was probably going to regret saying the things she did but right now she couldn't care less. Lapis had no right to act like she did nothing wrong, like she had nothing to do with every tear that fell out of Peridot's eyes.

Jasper only took a step forward, not fearful of the fact that Lapis had the entire ocean at her disposal. "No," Jasper growled. After all this time just waiting, Jasper was not going to stop. Not until she had her say in all of this. "You don't get to act like a victim of circumstance, not when I'm still here." Jasper rested a hand over her chest and felt her heart pound. "I have done some terrible things in my lifetime but I have the balls to admit it! I attacked you and interrogated you when you arrived on Homeworld defenseless and alone! I used the information I extracted from you to come back to this fucking planet so I could destroy it and _anything_ that would otherwise remind me of my failure to stop that rebellion eons ago. I even tried to use you to in the form of Malachite to shatter the Crystal Gems and that brat!" She pointed at Lapis with a vicious grin. Her arm began to hurt as if lava was flowing through her veins instead of blood but the rage Jasper felt overruled it. "But you used me instead! You used Malachite as my own prison. As my own personal hell! I was trapped for all those months and I couldn't do a fucking thing about it!"

"Stop!" Lapis yelled, backing further away. The water was now lapping up at her feet but none of it came to her defense. She didn't try to summon her powers or fly away. Some part of her knew that she needed to listen to Jasper but Lapis just wanted Jasper to stop talking. She glanced down at Peridot who was staring at Jasper in shock, unable to stop hearing how dangerous Lapis really was. Lapis closed her eyes and shook her head. She was going to lose Peridot if Jasper kept talking but she couldn't make her stop.

"Do you want to know why you were able to keep me there?" Jasper continued. She didn't wait for the water gem to answer. "Because a part of me knew that I deserved to be trapped on this miserable planet! I was created here, in a reject of a kindergarten! I wasn't able to protect my Diamond, I wasn't able to do the one purpose I was created for! I couldn't stop Rose Quartz from shattering her or stop her rebel army from taking earth from Homeworld." Jasper panted and the pain grew from her arm to her chest. Every breath was like swallowing glass but Jasper continued, "I was a failure as a soldier so I let you take me as your prisoner. I took everything you gave, all the insults, all of the abuse, because I thought that I deserved nothing less!"

"Shut up!" Lapis screamed, her hands covering her ears so she wouldn't have to hear Jasper. She didn't want to be reminded of what she was capable of, of what she had already done.

Lapis attempt to block out Jasper only served to infuriate Jasper even more. She wrenched Lapis's hands away from her ears as she roared, "NO! You knew that I didn't want to be Malachite but you kept me there, chained like some kind of beast!" Lapis's image blurred as tears stung in Jasper's eyes. Or maybe that was the pain reaching her brain. "You forced me to stay as that abomination even when I begged you to let me go!"

"ENOUGH!" Peridot ran in between Jasper and Peridot and tried to push them apart. Jasper let go of Lapis's arms with a scoff and took a step back. Lapis covered her mouth with one hand as the other fisted in her hair. She couldn't look at Jasper or Peridot, just staring at a space in the sand as tears flowed from her eyes. Peridot looked at Jasper and gasped. She pointed a shaky finger at Jasper's arm and the quartz gem glanced down.

Several spikes jutted out from the turquoise spots that littered her arm, each spike surrounded by weeping blood. Jasper whimpered and gripped one of them. She tried to pull it out but the pain was too great. The quartz gem realized she was reverting, soon she would be nothing more than a mindless beast. Her head snapped back to the other gems. Lapis was looking at her, shaking her head and whispering, "My fault," over and over again.

Jasper couldn't take it anymore, she turned around and ran for her life. She heard Peridot calling her back but she leaped up, climbing the cliff with her claws. When she reached the top, she saw that the leader of the watermelon Stevens had returned. Jasper didn't wonder how long he was there, she just barreled past him. The quartz gem ran through the village, all the Stevens once again stopping what they were doing. Instead of running up to hug her, they were staring at her and talking to one another in concerned voices, gesturing to the spikes that were now protruding from Jasper's back. Jasper tried to give a threatening snarl but it ended up becoming a yowl of agony as one of her ribs snapped under the pressure. The Stevens immediately rushed to her side, all of them patting her in an attempt to calm the quartz gem. The only watermelon that did not run to her aid was the leader. He simply stood in front of the statue and watched the ordeal. Jasper whimpered and got up on her feet and hands, jumping over the Stevens with a pained groan. She ran away from the village and through the jungle. Several times, Jasper crashed into a tree and downed it. She finally found the warp pad and activated it as soon as she leapt on it.

"Find Rose, find Rose," Jasper whimpered. She convulsed as her uniform began to rip at her back, the spikes growing larger. She gripped at her gem, it felt like it was made of lava but that was not what concerned her. Underneath the scorching heat, she could feel her heartbeats become weaker and weaker as her body reverted back to her corrupted form. The light thing she saw was light surrounding her as the warp pad activated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A LOT of angst in this chapter I know but when I was writing it I just couldn't make the meeting anything but this. I seriously considered putting this meeting off for a few more chapters but I just couldn't beat around the bush anymore. Lapis was not the only one suffering from Malachite and I honestly think Jasper would just explode if she didn't get everything off of her chest when she first meets Lapis again. That being said, please no anti-Jasper or anti-Lapis in the comments, this is just a story that I wrote and this is my personal opinion of how Lapis and Jasper would first approach the subject of Malachite together. Will their relationship get better? I don't know but I do see potential.


	10. It's My Turn to Talk

Steven shivered at the cooling red goop that covered the front of his body. He glanced at Amethyst and was envious that the purple gem didn't feel the cold like him. The quartz was entirely covered with the mush but she didn't even shudder once. Steven's attention was pulled back to the map of Beach City that Pearl had laid out on the counter. The gems were discussing where Jasper could have gone and Pearl was insisting that the quartz gem had skipped town for the tenth time. Steven couldn't focus on the words or frantic gesturing, he was busy replaying the past few hours in his head.

He had hoped to go back to the temple and wait out under the porch for Jasper to come back from her talk with Lapis. Luckily for him, the Crystal Gems had received word from Garnet that there was a corrupted gem in the strawberry patch and they had left, thinking Steven was still with Jasper and Peridot. That had been five hours ago. Now, they were all back and Steven was forced to explain how he had left Jasper with Peridot and Lapis and how now Jasper was loose somewhere, at least that was what Peridot had told him over the frantic tablet call. Steven was extremely lucky that Amethyst was distracting Garnet and Pearl by trying to hug them so none of them would hear about Jasper's and Peridot's hunt for Lapis and the resulting mess. As far as the Crystal Gems were concerned, Jasper started reverting when she saw Lapis at the barn and ran away so she wouldn't hurt either her or Peridot.

"Didn't you hear me, Steven?" Pearl asked, snapping Steven out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, I was just uh," Steven scrambled for an answer but came up empty. "I was just worried for Jasper," he said honestly. "She's alone out there and hurt and probably really scared," He knew how Jasper was feeling, having experienced it first hand in his dream.

Pearl nodded and looked back at the map. "We all are but we need to concentrate on finding Jasper before she hurts anyone." She tapped at where the temple was. Steven noticed that it was encased in a red circle as well as several other areas, including the barn. "We need to split up to cover more ground. Steven, we want you and Lion to stay at the temple-"

"What!?" Steven interrupted Pearl. "I should help too! I'm the one that bro- got her out of the bubble, Jasper is my responsibility!"

"Jasper isn't a pet, Steven," Garnet said, not looking up from the map. "We need you here in case she comes back. Like you said, she's scared so showing up to an empty temple isn't the best idea."

Amethyst nodded, some of the strawberry colored mush dripping onto the map. Not even Pearl scoffed at the mess which made Steven worry more. "Yeah man, go make her some Together Breakfast or something to calm her down." The grin she gave Steven looked more like a strained grimace.

Steven thought over it for a few minutes while the other gems went back to the map and sighed, knowing that the gems were right. If Jasper showed up to an empty beach house or even to one of the gems she could freak out more and hurt herself and others. He watched in silence as the other gems discussed about which area was to be searched by which gem and if Peridot should get involved. Steven noticed that not one of the Crystal Gems mentioned Lapis.

The gems finally settled on which areas they would search and that Peridot would be better at the barn calming Lapis down. Steven promised that he would call the gems if he found Jasper and not approach her under any circumstances. The boy knew that if he indeed did find Jasper he would break the promise at once but by the way Garnet gave a subtle nod when Pearl asked him to promise, Steven knew he wouldn't get into too much trouble. Besides, if Jasper was reverting back to her corrupted form, Steven was the only one that could heal her. The three gems left Steven alone with Lion to search for Jasper. Steven looked up to where Lion was sleeping on his bed and hurried up the stairs.

"Lion," Steven prodded, poking the pink animal's face. "Wake up, we have to find Jasper before the others."

At Jasper's name, both eyes snapped open and Lion jumped down to the first floor, running at the door. He pawed at it desperately while mewing up to Steven. Steven ran down the stairs, tripping on the last step and landing with a grunt on his back. He got back on his feet and went to the door, opening it for Lion. As soon as the door was opened wide enough, Lion squeezed his body through and bounded down the stairs. When he got halfway down, Lion halted and doubled back. Steven was about to climb on Lion's back when the animal leaned down and grabbed Steven by the nape of his neck. Lion jumped off the railing and landed lightly on the sandy beach. Steven could only tuck in his legs and arms as Lion sprinted to right of the temple, going to the more rural side of the cliff.

After a minute of Lion running with Steven safely in his jaws, Lion slowed to a stop, setting Steven gently back down. The boy got up and looked about, realizing with a quickening heart that Lion had took him to where Jasper's ship had crashed into earth. He saw a silhouette of an oddly-shaped boulder a few meters in front of him in the ocean. It moved with a whine and a sickening crunch. Steven dashed to Jasper's side, gasping as he saw the extent of the damage. Whatever Peridot had led him to believe about the corruption process was not even close.

All but Jasper's eyes had reverted back to her corrupted form. He looked at Jasper whining, her forepaws rubbing at her face like she could wash away the corruption. Steven lifted a hand to wipe away what he first thought was sweat but he snapped his hand back when he saw that the liquid was staining the ocean a hideous red. "J-Jasper?"

Jasper's head whirled to look at Steven. Another whine forced its way out of her throat as she backed away from him and deeper into the ocean. Her eyes were unfocused but were ablaze with agony. Her gem was pulsating a brilliant orange as if it were her heart but each pulse was growing duller. Steven knew that once the pulsing stopped, Jasper would be back to her corrupted state, perhaps forever.

"St-stay a-away."

Steven's heart almost broke at how weak and melancholy Jasper sounded. Her voice was a bare skeleton of what it usually sounded. He shook his head and walked closer to Jasper, the water now up to his waist. Luckily, Jasper didn't retreat any further but she did give a low growl.

"Stop that," Steven ordered, his mouth set into a determined frown. "You don't have to pretend with me." He gestured to the blood staining the water. "I know you're hurting and you're scared but we've been through this before." Steven licked his hand and held it out to her. "I helped you once and I can do it again. I _will_ do it again but you need to want to get better too."

"N-no point." The pulsing was only happening every twenty seconds now and the gem barely glowed. "Lo-s evrythin."

Steven took a tiny step forward and rested his nonhealing hand on her chest. He couldn't feel Jasper's heart but he knew that it was still there. "You haven't lost everything, Jasper. It may seem like that now but there's still tomorrow." Steven smiled up at her. "You can be whoever you want on earth. You can learn new things. You already learned how to read! You don't have to be like this." On a whim, Steven removed his hand and walked back onto the beach. He turned to look at her and lifted his arms wide. "All you have to do is take the first step!"

Jasper stayed in the ocean, staring up at Steven and Lion. The pulsing of her gem grew a little stronger as she took a step forward. Another step and the gem pulsed a second faster and brighter. The pain began to ebb away as her forepaw paw touched the sand. Jasper walked slowly towards Steven, each step uncertain but she eventually stood in front of Steven.

Steven gave a relieved laugh and placed his healing hand on Jasper's gem. Immediately, the figure lost its shape and turned into a white, glowing blob. This time there was no hesitation, the blob returned to the form that was in between Jasper and her corrupted state. Once the light faded away, Jasper slumped forward and laid on the beach.

Lion walked over to her and rolled her on her back with his head. Jasper still didn't open her eyes. Lion tilted his head and pawed at her horns but Jasper didn't respond. He mewed at Steven but the boy didn't know what to do. He had healed Jasper! She should be up and threatening him not to tell anyone about what just happened or she would have him bubbled! Steven took a shaky step forward and poked Jasper's face. She still didn't move and it didn't look like she was breathing. Steven poked her harder, his eyes starting to tear up as Lion mewed by him, patting Jasper's stomach with his paw.

"Wake up," Steven whispered. He reached into his pocket to call 911 but when he pulled his phone out it was soaked and won't turn on, no matter how hard he pressed the power button. He went into the ocean with it in his pocket! Steven threw the useless device away and licked his hand again. He laid it on her gem and Jasper's response was instantaneous.

Her eyes flashed open, wild and raging. With a snarl, Jasper leapt up and tackled Steven to the ground, her chest heaving. Lion was too shocked to do anything as Jasper lifted a clawed hand to bring down on the defenseless boy.

"Jasper, wait!" Steven cried out.

Jasper's eyes focused and she stared down at the boy. Her eyes widened at the realization of what she was about to do and she leapt off of him, slamming into Lion. The big cat gave a surprised yelp but didn't attack. Jasper's eyes scanned Steven, looking for any injuries. When she found none, she got back on her two feet and ran a hand through her hair. "What the fuck were you thinking, Steven!?" she yelled as she paced back and forth. "I was reverting back to my corrupted form! If you had showed up any later I could have hurt you or worse, killed you! What then, huh!?" She pointed at the still sitting boy. "I would have to tell the Crystal Gems that I killed you and then they would have bubbled me or shattered me!"

Steven still stayed on the ground as tears leaked out of his eyes.

"Oh no," Jasper growled at the sight of the tears leaving streaks down Steven's cheeks. "I have been playing nice since I got out of that fucking bubble and I am not going back in just because some brat couldn't let me become corrupted in peace."

Steven wiped away the tears with a grin and smiled up at Jasper. "You called me Steven," he said. He got up and wiped away a few more tears. "You would always call me Rose and then brat or runt but you called me Steven." The happy grin melted into a pained grimace as Steven looked down at where his gem was, hidden by his favorite shirt. He looked back up at Jasper who stopped pacing. "I-I'm sorry for what my mom did to Pink Di-"

Jasper silenced him with a lifted hand as if she could physically stop the words from coming out of Steven's mouth. She looked out at the ocean, scowling at the remains of her blood in the water. "I don't want your apologies," she said, a hand coming up to rest on her arm. Steven noticed that the orange hand was covering more of the turquoise spots on Jasper's arm. The quartz gem looked back down at the boy. "Do you remember when I first came here? On that spacecraft?"

"Yeah," Steven answered with a nod. "You thought I was my mom when I brought out my shield." He glanced at Lion and then back at Jasper. "You said that you respected her."

"I did," Jasper agreed. She looked down at her hand with a sigh. "Do you know why I respected her so much?"

Steven shook his head.

"She did something that not even Pink Diamond could," Jasper said. She turned to look at the temple. "Rose Quartz was able to rally all of her forces every time they fought, no matter how low their chance of survival. They believed in her, in what she believed in." Jasper looked back down at Steven. "Soldiers fight for what they believe in but true warriors, warriors that make the greatest of leaders, know when to put the ideals they believe in at stake in order to create a better world in which others can believe in. That is something no Diamond has _ever_ done. Rose Quartz did shatter my Diamond but it was because she believed in this planet." Jasper rested a hand over her gem, feeling her heart beat steadily under it like it was proof of how much she sunk. Or maybe how much she changed. "I could never do something like that. I fought for my Diamond and only my Diamond, not for myself or for others. I just fought whoever they told me to fight and I didn't even care enough to ask for a reason. Rose Quartz wasn't like that and her comrades saw that."

Steven stayed quiet for a long time. He had no idea that even his mother's enemy could see something like that. He touched his own gem, wishing for the millionth time that he could talk to his mother, to know what she was like. He held up a hand for Jasper to grab. "Let's go home."

Jasper looked down and huffed, marching past Steven and towards the temple. She heard laughter and two pairs of footsteps trailing behind her. The quartz gem didn't turn her head to look at them but she did leave the door open for Steven and Lion to walk into the beach house before her. She glanced up at the portrait of Rose Quartz as she entered the house. Jasper sighed, she just hoped that Steven didn't tell the others what she said.

"Jasper, you should always have your backpack with you!" Steven called.

"What?" The quartz gem looked at where Steven was frowning at her with his hands on his hips, looking eerily like Pearl when Jasper did something wrong. On the living room table was the cheeseburger backpack but Jasper could have sworn she left it at the barn when she went to Mask Island. She walked over and picked it up, still trying to figure out where it came from. Something fell out of the burger part but Jasper never opened it that day. She bent down to pick up the object and saw that it was the orange leaf that belonged to Lapis. She stared at it, the backpack slipping from her fingers to land on the table harshly. Steven didn't reprimand Jasper, he simply went to the bathroom room to get ready to sleep. He knew full well that the backpack wasn't there before and what the leaf meant but he didn't want to pry.

Jasper held the leaf carefully as if it could break at any moment. She looked back down at the backpack and then at the leaf again. She knew that it was a peace offering but Jasper wasn't sure she wanted to accept it just yet. The sound of a door opening and closing brought Jasper's attention back to Steven who was climbing up the stairs to his bed. "I'm going to sleep outside tonight," Jasper said, turning to head out of the house, not waiting for a response, although she could hear Garnet telling the others, namely Pearl, not to stop her.

The quartz gem left the beach house and with a few jumps, was sitting on the hand that Steven used to clean his clothes. Why he didn't simply use magic to put on clean clothes or create his uniform Jasper didn't know but she took comfort in the scent of drier sheets. She studied the leaf, her night vision working well even in the dead of night. Jasper tried to memorize every detail of the leaf but after three minutes of looking at the leaf, Jasper groaned at her stiff neck and lifted it to get the cranks out. She looked up at the stars and frowned when she realized she couldn't tell which little dot was Homeworld. When Jasper was still on Homeworld, she knew exactly which star belonged to the Earth's solar system.

Her gem grew warm as something slid down Jasper's cheek. She wiped it with one of her fingers and looked at it. Jasper nearly jumped when the same thing slid down her other cheek and a few more followed suit. With a start she realized she was crying. Jasper's gem grew hotter as more tears came out of her eyes but she couldn't stop them. She held the leaf close to her chest as her body shook with the intensity of her sobs. Jasper came to the realization that she could never go back to Homeworld. She failed to redeem herself by not succeeding in escorting a simple peridot who only had to restart kindergarten and report the progress of the cluster. She had fused with a gem of a different species, something that would have gotten her shattered on Homeworld in an instant. She lost control of said fusion and was the other gem's prisoner for months. She tried to fuse again and got herself corrupted in the process. She was revived by her sworn enemy's spawn and now owes her life to him. She was stuck on this terrible planet, living in the same house that Rose Quartz used to live in, having to pander to the Crystal Gems. And she was happy for it.


	11. FUNLAND

Jasper growled at the feeling of something furry pushing her arm. She rolled over and tried to get back to her dream of running through a forest, shivering at the cool stone touching her body. The pressing continued however and Jasper could feel somebody breathing on her face. She growled louder and lifted an arm to push whatever it was away from her. Her fingers touched something soft and a purring noise emitted from the creature. With a groan, Jasper realized who was trying to her wake her up and rolled onto her back. She peaked one eye open to see that Lion was lying next to her, his face only an inch away from hers. The quartz gem scowled at the animal and pushed him away before sitting up. She yawned and stretched, her arms and legs giving several satisfactory cracks. Jasper turned her head at the sound of humming and saw that Pearl was standing near the dryer.

"That's extremely creepy," Jasper said, reaching a hand up to scratch an itch in between her horns. She looked down and then around her, her eyes flashing from one place to the next. The quartz gem even shoved Lion from his resting spot so she could look underneath him. "Where is it?" Jasper whispered frantically, jumping up to see if she had somehow lain on it during the night.

"You mean this?"

Jasper turned her head to look at the leaf she thought she lost. Pearl was holding it with a raised eyebrow, wondering why the quartz gem was so concerned that she lost a simple leaf. Jasper snatched it from Pearl's hands and examined it to see if there were any imperfections. She hissed at Lion when the animal came closer to look, figuring that the animal would try to destroy it like it was a paper bag. Jasper sighed in relief when she saw that the leaf wasn't crumpled or otherwise damaged. She would have no idea of what to do if there was a tear or if it was crushed.

She looked back at Pearl and felt her cheeks begin to warm in the beginnings of a blush. "Thank you." Jasper glanced back down at the leaf held so tightly but carefully in her right hand. "The leaf means a lot to me."

Pearl nodded like she understood. She gestured to a cup and container filled with a lime green smoothie that she left on the washer. "I made you your breakfast and brought it out for you in case you wanted to consume it outside." She fidgeted for a moment which caused Jasper to tilt her head. What possibly could make the pearl nervous? Jasper knew it wasn't her presence because that made the pearl more agitated than anxious. "Steven wants to ask you about something. He's waiting for you on the porch." With that, Pearl turned and jumped off of the stone hand, landing daintily on the porch and informing Steven that Jasper had awoken.

Jasper blinked a few times, her mind still processing what just happened. She technically ran away from the Crystal Gems and almost hurt Steven but Pearl simply told her that Steven had a question for her. She looked down at Lion but he curled up into a loose ball to take a nap, showing how much he thought of Pearl's strange response. The quartz gem carefully placed the leaf in the band of her pants, making a mental note to put it in the cheeseburger backpack later. Jasper walked over to the washer and filled the cup with the smoothie. She sniffed at the gunk, trying to detect any foul play that Pearl may have tried to pull. It smelled as unappetizing as before but there was a hint of something familiar. Jasper took a sip but didn't gag at the taste. It insulted her taste buds like every other smoothie that Pearl had served her but this one had something else. Jasper took another sip, trying to figure out the hidden ingredient that didn't cause her to feel like she was going to vomit. It was when she filled the cup again that Jasper finally realized what she was tasting. Bananas! The pearl had added bananas to her smoothie.

She downed the cup and refilled it soon after. Jasper swallowed a mouthful and grabbed the container. She walked to the palm of the hand and looked behind her. Lion was fast asleep so he wasn't going anywhere. Jasper shook her head and stepped off the hand, landing with a thump on the porch, not nearly as graceful as Pearl. She saw that Steven was leaning against the rail and walked over to him. Jasper tilted the container towards Steven but the boy made a face and pushed it back to Jasper. The quartz gem shrugged and refilled her cup.

"Pearl put bananas into my smoothie," Jasper began. She glanced down before her eyes settled on the scenery. The sun was already high up in the sky so it must have been midday. Jasper narrowed her eyes as she calculated that she must have been asleep for more than twelve hours.

"I told Pearl that you liked banana smoothies," Steven said. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand to look up at Jasper. The quartz gem noted that the boy look as if he didn't get any sleep at all, there were dark bags under his eyes. "I had a nightmare," Steven said, noticing how Jasper frowned down at him. After all the threats and barbs, Steven knew that the gem cared for him, or at the very least didn't want to be blamed for any of his injuries or lapses in judgement towards his health, which was a huge step forward for someone like Jasper.

Jasper sighed and placed the cup and container on the rail, her appetite no longer there. "Was it about me?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Steven nodded and buried his chin into his arms. "I didn't save you this time." He looked out over the ocean and he could imagine his nightmare taking place right in front of the temple. He could even hear the yowls of pain in the wind that ruffled his hair. "You trusted me but I couldn't heal you."

"You did," Jasper said. She lifted a hand and hesitated for a moment before resting it on Steven's head. She witnessed Garnet doing this several times prior and it always seemed to cheer him up. "I'm still here and you healed me."

"There something I wanted to ask you," Steven said suddenly, not moving his head lest he bump Jasper's hand off of him. He knew that for Jasper to do something like this was not only extremely rare but also a step in the right direction. "There's a festival happening at Funland. It's to celebrate something humans call a New Year's Eve. We like to have parties before the New Year begins!"

Jasper could already here the question and she talked before Steven could ask it. "I have better things to do than to celebrate another day passing." In truth, Jasper didn't want to go outside for a very long time. She wanted to lay on her couch and read Fangs of Love for the third time, no matter how terrible it was.

"Please," Steven begged, drawing out the word until it became a whine. He looked up at her and clasped his hands together, giving the quartz gem his very best puppy-dog face. Jasper only looked at him like he grew another gem on his forehead. "It's going to be fun! Everyone will be there and there's going to be lots of food, although you won't be able to eat it," Seven added a moment later with a frown. The grin sprang back on his face however. "There's gonna be rides!" The grin slid off his face as he sized Jasper up. "But you're probably too big." He scratched his head, trying to find something that would peak Jasper's interest. "Oh I know," Steven yelled, stars brightening his eyes. "Mr. Smiley is lighting off fireworks at midnight! You'll love those, their colorful and loud and big and loud."

"You said loud twice," Jasper commented. She had a sinking feeling that the boy wasn't going to give up until she said yes. She groaned and rubbed at the back of her neck. "If I agree to come to this party will you leave me alone for the rest of the day?"

Steven nodded so much that it looked as if he was about to bob his head right off.

"Fine," Jasper grunted. She already started to regret her decision when Steven pumped his fists in the air.

"I gotta tell Amethyst!" The boy ran into the beach house and slammed the door shut. Jasper sighed and rubbed at her temple. Why did she agree to this?

* * *

 

A few hours later the Crystal Gems and Jasper were all standing outside of the temple and near Greg's van. Greg introduced himself to Jasper but when he tried to shake her hand all Jasper did was hiss at him. Steven laughed at the reaction but Greg ran behind Pearl and asked if Jasper was prone to biting. The human stayed as far away from Jasper as he could without appearing rude and whenever he thought Jasper wasn't looking, he would gawk at her. Jasper found the entire situation rather aggravating. Jasper turned her head to look at the temple, wondering if it was too late to run back.

"Okay, it's settled," Steven said, slapping his hands together. He looked at Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl. "You three will go with Dad in his van while I ride on Lion."

"I'll be sitting on the van," Garnet corrected the boy. She jumped up and landed on the van's roof with a small bang. She laid down on the top and waited for the others to start moving. Steven got on Lion's back and gave the animal a quick pat on the head.

Amethyst threw open the van's rear doors before crawling in. The purple gem immediately began to rummage through Greg's things, making a cocoon for herself and eating something she found that may have once been a sandwich. Pearl on the other hand made a face at the sight of all the junk and got into the passenger seat. Greg looked at Jasper with a worried frown. "Uh there might not be room for you in the van. We could always hitch a trailer or maybe a wagon or um" Greg trailed off, scratching the back of his head at what Jasper could fit into.

Jasper looked at the van in thinly veiled disgust. She wasn't in the van and already she began to feel lightheaded at all the different scents radiating out of it, most of them extremely unpleasant. "I'll run."

"Are you sure?" Greg asked. "It's a long run and I'm sure if I throw away some of the junk we can fit you in."

"Don't throw away this stuff, man!" Amethyst yelled from her cocoon. "Some of it is really cool, like this!" The purple gem held out an object that Jasper had no clue what it was only that it was broken. It was some kind of instrument that looked like a guitar but instead of strings there were piano keys. The neck of the instrument was snapped and was only hanging on by a few wires.

Greg laughed and grabbed the instrument from Amethyst. "Oh I almost forgot about this thing." He held it up high so that Garnet could see from her place. "Remember when I asked you to play this?" Greg lowered his arm as his grin faltered. "Afterwards you slammed it against the stage's floor."

"It's what hardcore guitarists do," Garnet explained. She fixed her visors as she rolled onto her side. "After playing a song they break the guitar against the stage."

"Yeah but this thing cost me an arm and a leg." He gave the broken instrument back to Amethyst who promptly began to push all the buttons, seeing if any of them worked. Greg looked at all of his stuff inside his van and thought that even if it was perfectly clean, Jasper probably still won't fit comfortably. Maybe if she laid down on the hood and Garnet moved inside the van it could work.

The quartz gem tilted her head as she watched Greg think of ways that he could fit her into the van. Steven inherited all his useless feelings on how to make everyone happy from Greg and Rose Quartz both, Jasper concluded. "I am fine with running," she said with an air of finality.

"What if you get tired?" Steven asked.

"Then I'll take a break if I need to." Jasper shrugged off her backpack and handed it to Steven. The boy groaned under the sudden weight but he still put it on. Lion grumbled at the added weight but he began to purr when Steven patted his head again. Jasper could already feel her heart beat faster at the thought of running without holding back. She smirked down at Lion. "Try to keep up." Lion huffed and dug his claws in the ground as if he couldn't wait to start.

Greg glanced between Steven and Jasper a few times before shrugging and getting into the driver's seat. He had to turn the keys twice before the engine caught and turned over. Greg drove away and Jasper and Lion began to run after the vehicle. Garnet kept a close eye on the quartz gem behind her glasses to make sure that she didn't hurt herself.

Jasper panted and leaned down so that she was on all fours. She snapped her jaws when Lion was starting to run ahead of her. He turned her head and Jasper could have sworn that the animal looked smug. Jasper growled and pushed herself a little harder, easily outrunning Lion. She heard laughter and looked back to see Steven staring at her with stars in his eyes.

"So cool!" Steven yelled out at her. He leaned down and pressed his ankles into Lion's sides for a moment. "Come on, Lion! Faster!" Lion roared and bounded after Jasper as fast as he could. He kept up with the quartz gem.

Lion started to breathe heavily after a minute but Jasper wasn't even breaking a sweat. She shook her head with a laugh and couldn't resist the urge to push herself as far as she could. The quartz gem bounded past the van, feeling her body surge with the adrenaline with every thump of her heart. Jasper almost tripped when a honk pierced the quiet of the night. She slowed her pace with a growl. Jasper could make out Pearl's disapproving face as the van drove past her and she heard Amethyst laughing from inside the van. Even Garnet was chuckling.

"We're almost there!" Steven yelled to Jasper. Lion was definitely getting tired, he was staggering behind but he still managed to keep up his pace. Jasper snickered under her breath and Lion hissed at her but she knew that the animal didn't mean it.

The group finally stopped three minutes later. Jasper was reluctant to stop running but now a sheen of sweat covered her body. She stood up while Lion flopped down on his side, unseating Steven in the process. The boy let out an oof as he fell but he quickly got up. He was having trouble keeping still as everyone else got out of the van.

Greg looked at his son with a grin and held up a finger like he was about to give a lecture. "Look Steven, I know you're excited but you need to be safe, all right? The fireworks are going to begin in," he looked down at his watch which Jasper noticed held the picture of a pear crying, "four hours and we're all going to meet up at the beach to watch them." He closed the back doors as Amethyst ran off with Pearl chasing after her, yelling something about hotdogs. Greg got back into his driver's seat and rolled down his window so he could stick his head out and look at Steven. "I'm going to get this bad boy to the beach while you have fun."

Steven nodded in understanding. "Okay, dad!" He walked over to Jasper and tugged at her pants, trying to lead her to the entrance. "Come on, Jasper. We only have four hours and I want to show you the boardwalk!"

"I've already been on the boardwalk," Jasper said, not moving an inch. "You took me there to go to the Big Donut."

"No, not that boardwalk," Steven said, giving Jasper another tug. He pointed at a sign that said funland in capital letters, little bulbs making the word shine brightly in the dying light. "I want to show you all the different games they have. Maybe we can even sneak you on a ride!"

Steven hurried over to the entrance before Jasper could say anything and raised his hand to make Jasper follow him. Jasper looked at the others and figured that it would be less painful to be with the boy than any of them. She followed Steven to the entrance and scoffed when the boy turned to run into a building. Sensing she had no choice, Jasper walked to the building to get a better look. It was purple in color and Whacky Mirrors was written on the front in silver paint. Jasper sighed and entered the building. There were mirrors lined up all along the left side of the hallway and Steven was flexing his arms in the first one. Jasper raised an eyebrow and looked into the mirror, frowning when her image was distorted immediately. She glanced down and saw that the way the mirror was warped, it looked like Steven was more muscular than he actually was. Jasper stood in front of the second mirror and her eyes widened when her image shrunk. She was now the size of Pearl! The quartz gem leaned forward to poke at the mirror, trying to deactivate it or set it back to the normal setting. She looked over at Steven who was now in front of another mirror, the image making his head far too big for his body. He was snorting from how much he was laughing and looked over to Jasper's image. The laughing grew until he was practically hollering. Jasper frowned and walked in front of another mirror. This time she was a lot bigger, her head not even visible. The quartz gem grimaced at her reflection and walked towards another mirror, and then another. Each one made something grotesque and Steven would laugh at each one. Finally, Jasper stood in front of the last mirror, her image now all but distorted. The way the mirror was warped made Jasper appear as if everything was smushed together. She couldn't stop staring at her face. It looked as if her old gem was back instead of a real nose. Jasper raised a shaky hand to touch her nose, feeling the flesh instead of rock underneath her fingers.

"Maybe we should go," Steven said, watching Jasper stare at herself. When Jasper didn't respond, he walked closer and tugged on her elbow, trying to get the hand away from Jasper's face. "Jasper, I want to show you some other cool stuff."

The tugging snapped Jasper out of her trance and she looked down at the boy. She could see the concern he had for her and glanced back at the mirror. With her head turned, it no longer looked like her old gem was back but her horn was horribly misshapen. She nodded and walked out of the building with Steven trailing behind. "How long have we been here?"

Steven got his new phone, which was really an old phone he put in safe keeping when he got the phone he destroyed at the beach, out to check the clock. "About an hour actually." He put it back in his pocket and ran out in front of Jasper, pointing to the game section of the park. "How about we use the other three hours here?" Before Jasper could answer, Steven had already run up to the nearest gaming booth and slapped a ten-dollar bill down. The quartz gem walked over to Steven and titled her head at the booth. There were seven of what appeared to be some sort of gun mounted on the counter. On the wall of the booth were seven bullseye targets, one for each gun. On top of the bullseye was a cylindrical tube that were encased with flashing lights that would change colors to create different patterns. Jasper looked down at Steven who smiled up at her, patting the gun next to him. "I already paid for you so you have to play." He grabbed his own weapon and pressed down on the two buttons with his thumbs. "You want to aim the nozzle at the red circle on the bullseye when the water comes out. The first person to fill the tank wins!"

Jasper had to get on her knees to be able to properly aim the gun. She had no idea why Steven would allow her to have a weapon but when she gave it an experimental pull, she found that it was firmly bolted into the counter. It would be nothing for her to rip it out of the counter but for some reason, she didn't feel like it. The quartz gem shook her head and aimed the nozzle.

"Anymore players want to try their aim at the water guns!?" called out the booth attendant. When nobody else showed up to play, he flipped some switch on a panel hidden to the customers. Jasper's and Steven's cylinders stopped making patters and flashed three times before settling to a red. "Ready? Set. Go!"

Jasper pressed down the two buttons with her thumbs but widened her eyes when her stream of water hit an inch to the right of the target. The weapon wasn't properly calibrated! She quickly corrected her aim but she saw that Steven was already ahead of her. The quartz gem growled and pressed down harder on the buttons but the stream was as weak as before.

Before she knew it, Steven's cylinder filled with blue light and flashed three times as horns blared from the speakers. Steven gave a triumphant shout and grabbed his prize: a bag of chips. He eagerly opened the bag and ate some of the chips. "Don't worry, Jasper. There's still a whole bunch of games to play."

The two played all sorts of games but each one Jasper lost to Steven or someone else that happened to want to play the same game. Jasper's mood soured after each loss until finally there were only two gaming booths left. One was the test your strength game and the other a dart game. Sadie and Lars were using the test your strength game and it appeared that Sadie was the stronger of the two. Jasper wanted to try her own hand at the game but Steven quickly dragged her away towards the darts. "Uh, maybe we should try that one later," he said.

Jasper grumbled but allowed herself to be dragged to the darts booth. The entire back wall was covered in balloons of different sizes and colors. There was a sign displayed in front of the booth that showed the different points for different sizes and how many points were required for what type of prize. The biggest balloons only gave the player 5 points, the medium gave 10, and the small 20. The largest prize cost 350 points, the medium cost 200, and the small 75. There was a sentence written in small print and Jasper had to lean down to read it. It stated that if the player found and popped the legendary golden balloon, he or she would automatically win the largest prizes. Jasper looked down and saw that Steven was looking for the golden balloon. He suddenly grinned and patted Jasper's leg. "There! In between the two blue big balloons!" Jasper frowned at the sight of the golden balloon. It wasn't even as big as her pinkie's claw!

"I want to pop that balloon," Jasper said. After her string of losses she needed this win.

"Well good luck with that," laughed the booth attendant. He smiled at the two but Jasper thought that the smile looked more painful than cheerful. "I thought I banned you from the games, Steven," the man laughed down at Steven.

"No, just the rides, Mr. Smiley."

Jasper looked down at Steven in shock. She didn't think the boy had the guts to do anything that warranted a banishment of any kind. She looked back at the balloon and started forming a strategic plan to get the area clear enough for her to have the best chances of popping it with the five darts that Mr. Smiley set in front of her. He was giving her some safety rules but Jasper just ignored him. She wanted to pop the gold balloon, not throw darts at some humans. Jasper would have to take out the two blue balloons first and perhaps the medium red one right above the gold. She nodded to herself as she grabbed the first dart. She took aim and threw it, the balloon to the left of her prize popping.

Mr. Smiley shook his head and sighed. "You gonna try harder than that if you want to pop that bad boy." Another dart flew and the blue balloon to the right popped. "That sucker has been on my board for as long as I first set up this booth." Jasper threw another dart and the red one above popped. "But hey, you now have twenty points. If you pay another five bucks you could even win an eraser with that aim."

The quartz gem turned her head to glare at Mr. Smiley. The smile slipped off of his face at her glare and he tried to make himself smaller by pressing up against the side wall. Jasper slowly raised her arm with her dart and threw it without looking. Mr. Smiley gulped as he heard a balloon pop and Steven cheering but he didn't dare look away from Jasper. The quartz gem's lips lifted into a dangerous smirk as she held out the last dart. "I don't think I'll need this one."

Mr. Smiley took the dart with a trembling hand, feeling sweat bead on his forehead. He put the remaining dart back with the others and pointed up at where his biggest prizes where. "Take whichever one you want."

Jasper nodded her head in approval and looked up to survey her prizes. Her face quickly sported a frown when she realized that Mr. Smiley only had one large prize available: a green alien with a top hat and bow tie. She grabbed the one nearest to her and frowned down at it. It was rather ugly in Jasper's opinion but she still won it. Jasper looked down at Steven who was jumping up and down in his excitement.

"Nobody has ever popped the golden balloon!" He grabbed her pants and tried to walk away, only managing to take a step before he began to walk in place. Steven looked behind him and pointed to the beach. "Come on, we should go now if we want to see the fireworks!"

Steven let go of Jasper to run down the boardwalk. Jasper rolled her eyes but followed the boy, the alien tucked safely under her arm. She lost sight of Steven when he more jumped than walked down the stairs that connected the boardwalk to the beach. Jasper climbed down the stairs and looked about. She spotted a few of Beach City's residents scattered here and there, the people setting up various equipment to make themselves comfortable for the show. Off to the far right, Jasper found Steven talking to Connie and Greg and Garnet setting up a fire next to the children. Lion was curled up on top of Greg's van, already asleep. Pearl and Amethyst were nowhere to be found but Jasper figured that they were probably getting snacks or more accurately replacing the food that Amethyst ate. The quartz gem walked over and sat down in front of the now blazing fire. She raised her hands to feel the fire's radiant heat. Even though it was not a particularly chilly night, Jasper still liked the feeling of the warmth seeping into her body. She lifted her eyes away from the dancing flames when she heard a familiar laugh. Jasper almost thought her eyes were playing tricks on her until she noticed that Steven looked very worried. A few feet away from the group was Lapis Lazuli laughing at something zPeridot had said.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that I invited them," Greg said, noticing how both Steven and Jasper were staring at the still unsuspecting duo. "I know how much you like hanging out with them Stewball and I thought it would be nice if they were here with the rest of the Crystal Gems." When nobody gave a reply, Greg's cheeks began to redden. "Was I not supposed to invite them or- "

"No," Garnet interrupted, laying a reassuring hand on Greg's shoulder with a grin. "It's good for Lapis and Peridot to be exposed to human culture, even if they don't understand it." She let go of Greg's shoulder to look down at Jasper. "It's good for you too."

Jasper was too distracted to realize that Garnet's words were directed at her. She got up slowly, almost forgetting her alien prize until the smell of singing cloth caught her attention. The quartz gem scooped up the alien and frowned at the new brown patch on its right arm. Jasper heard a gasp and her head snapped to the right. Peridot and Lapis were staring at her, Peridot's hand holding onto Lapis's arm. Jasper was reminded of their first meeting at the hospital and shook her head to rid herself of the memories.

Before either of the gems could run off, Jasper closed the distance between them with seemingly confident strides. In truth, all that Jasper could think of was her last words to Lapis and how they saw her converting back to her corrupted form. She looked down at the two of them and could read the uncertainty in both their eyes. "I'm okay."

Peridot shook her head and lifted a hand almost like she wanted to make sure Jasper was really there. Lapis simply lowered her head and held onto her arms like she was trying to hold herself together lest she crumple like a shattered cup. "Steven healed you again?" Peridot asked, her eyes glancing at Steven who was watching them along with Greg and Connie. Garnet had sat down facing the fire and away from them.

Jasper grunted an affirmative and shifted the alien in her arm, the patch was causing her skin to itch when it rubbed up against it. Peridot's eyes flashed to the toy and despite herself a small smile tugged at her lips. Jasper frowned when Lapis still didn't look at her. She looked at the alien toy and then Peridot. "I want to share a few words with Lapis." Lapis flinched and Peridot's eyes hardened. "It won't be like the last time." Lapis glanced up from her bangs. "I want to apologize," Jasper said solemnly, meeting Lapis's hidden gaze.

The green gem chewed on her bottom lip as she weighed her options. She gave a quick jerk of a nod and had to lean up on her toes to grab the toy from Jasper's arm. Peridot walked over to the group, nearly tripping several times due to the toy being almost her size. She didn't turn her back to the two like Garnet, she stood watching them while holding toy close to her.

"Don't apologize," Lapis said before Jasper could even utter a syllable. She lifted her head so Jasper could see how haunted her eyes were. Lapis looked back down and gave a pathetic chuckle, the palm of her right hand rubbing at her eye as if she just woke up from a nap and was trying to rub the sleep from her eye. "You were telling the truth at Mask Island and even back on Greg's boat."

"I was wrong," Jasper said. She ran her fingers through her hair, feeling her hand bump one of her horns. "I shouldn't have said the things that I did."

"Yes, you should have," Lapis argued. She looked at the others, her eyes lingering on Peridot the longest. The green gem tried to give an encouraging smile but it was hideously forced. She looked back at Jasper. "I could shatter them all in a second and you know that. You are the only one that has ever seen the extent of the damage I could cause but you still follow me around like a runt that doesn't realize that its mom abandoned it." Lapis shook her head and Jasper could see the confusion in her eyes. "Why do you still want me? I don't understand. I hurt you, kept you as a prisoner for months and yet here you are."

"Here I am," Jasper repeated. She took a long time to think over Lapis's words and her own answer. Finally, the quartz gem shrugged. "I don't know why I still want you. You can be a monster but you also showed me how wrong I was about fusion." She lifted a hand when Lapis took a step back in fear. "This isn't about Malachite. This is about me. Finding and seeing you has been my only goal for so long and now that I'm here, now that I can touch you," Jasper rested a hand on Lapis's crossed arms. Lapis looked conflicted for a moment and the quartz gem could here Garnet rising to her feet behind her. However, the water gem did nothing and Jasper took it as a positive sign. "I don't know what to do now. I can't go back to Homeworld. Jaspers were created to fight and to never give up but I have nothing to fight or fight for. Now I'm lost and the only thing that has ever made me want to be better was you, even if it was for the wrong reasons. I'm just never going to stop wanting you until I find something else, I suppose," she finished.

Lapis looked at Jasper for a very long time, her eyes taking in her new form. Her shoulders shook with the sudden laughter bubbling up from her chest. "That's really sad and I've been trapped in a mirror for thousands of years."

Jasper nodded with her own chuckle. "I know it is." She opened her mouth to say something else but chanting stopped her. All around her, the people got up and started counting down from twenty. Jasper turned her head and saw that Steven and Connie were pumping their fists in time of the counting. Only the Homeworld gems did not join in the count down. When they reached zero, everyone erupted into cheers. Even Garnet clapped and smiled. Jasper turned her head to ask Lapis if she knew what was going on but movement over the ocean caught her eye. Five streaks of light flew up the sky before each exploded with a loud bang into different colors. Lion gave a yelp as he was rudely awoken and fell off the van. More streaks flew up and some even formed images like smiley faces and Jasper could have sworn she saw one erupting into an image of a rose.

"What are they?" Lapis asked, watching several lights erupting one after another in quick succession like they were timed.

"Rockets?" Jasper tried to answer. "They don't seem to be harming anyone." Her eyes narrowed as a shower of lights erupted from one streak, her eyes not liking the sudden bright flashes of lights. She could see the clouds of smoke build more after each explosion. "Perhaps it is a signal of some sort."

"No!" Steven laughed. While the two were trying to figure out what the explosions wore, Steven and Connie walked up behind them. He grabbed something out of his pocket that looked like a whistle and blew into the mouth piece. A paper tongue rolled out and the sound that emitted from the toy caused both Jasper and Lion to hiss. Steven smiled sheepishly as he pocketed the toy right after.

Connie just laughed, now used to Jasper's need to hiss at everything that annoyed her, including herself. "They're called fireworks." She followed one streak of light with her finger as she explained. "Humans create them to celebrate special occasions. They first light a fuse which will go into a chamber to ignite the pack of gunpowder inside. The gunpowder ignition causes the firework to move and with the proper design, fly really high into the sky. Some people put in a few different metals with the gunpowder that once lit, emit the light that you are now seeing. If the person making the fireworks have the correct calculations, the fuse will continue from the gunpowder package into the one at the head of the firework. This package would only hold the metals and when lit explodes into what you see now." The firework Connie was following erupted into a shower of red sparks.

Steven opened his mouth to ask a question about the patterns but the looks on Jasper's and Lapis's faces told him that they were confused enough as it is. It was also probably better if the gems didn't understand the concept behind fireworks and tried it out themselves. Steven trusted Lapis not to do anything too rash but if Peridot got wind of how to make fireworks. The boy ended his train of thought with a shudder.

"Well, I've always been more of a fan of sparklers myself," he said. His face suddenly lit up and he grabbed Lapis's hand and Jasper's pants. "That reminds me! Come on, I have a treat for you guys." Steven rushed over to his father's van, throwing open the doors and diving inside. The two gems watched as various items were thrown out of the van without care. Most of them belonged inside a trashcan instead of a human's living quarters in Jasper's opinion. They heard a crash but Steven climbed out without a scratch and ran back to them. He held up two metal stick things and Jasper and Lapis grabbed one each.

Jasper took a sniff and wrinkled her nose at the scent. It wasn't edible, she was sure but it was too small to hold any other value.

Steven laughed at Jasper's reaction and held up the lighter that he held in his other hand. "I have to light it first." He reached for Lapis's sparkler first and struggled to turn on the lighter a few times before a tiny flame sputtered out. Steven lit Lapis's sparkler and it flared a brilliant red. Lapis quickly stretched her arm as far as she could but when the sparkler didn't burn her, she slowly pulled it closer to examine it. Jasper glanced down at her own unlit sparkler and held it out for Steven to light. Her sparkler didn't give off red sparks but rather green. Jasper didn't immediately stretch her arm like Lapis but rather she flicked her wrist and saw how for a moment it looked as if she had drew a green line in the open air. A grin lit up Jasper's face as she continued to move the sparkler around, watching as she created new lines and if she was fast enough, even draw circles. A bubble of delightful laughter escaped the quartz gem but she couldn't find herself to care. A similar laugh was heard to her side and Jasper looked down to see that Lapis was as entranced with the sparklers as she was. Lapis tried to write something in the air but she was always a second too slow to complete it but it didn't matter, the water gem was still giggling and tried again.

All too soon the sparklers died and Jasper and Lapis were left holding with dead rods. Jasper looked down to where Steven was but found that the space was empty. She turned her head and saw that while she was occupied with the sparkler, Steven had walked to the campfire. He and Connie were playing with a pink and purple sparkler respectively while Garnet watched them, her hands pressed together and smiling at the children. Greg was there as well but he was plucking at his guitar's strings instead of playing with the fireworks. Jasper's eyes snapped to Peridot. Jasper's prize was left on its side like Peridot forgot that it was even there. She noticed that the technician was holding two sparklers, one red and one blue. The gem wasn't waving them in the air but rather just watching them sparkle with a small smile.

Jasper and Lapis walked back to the group and Jasper sat down in front of the fire again. She tossed her dead rod into the flames, hoping that the fire would cause it to sparkle again. When it did nothing but give a weak crack, Jasper frowned and grabbed a stick to poke at the rod. It still did nothing.

"It only works once." Steven sat down next to Jasper and threw in his own rod. He looked up at her, his eyes now serious. "Did you have fun today?"

Jasper gave a noncommittal grunt but she realized with a start that she did have fun. She was glad that she came on this trip but she was never going to admit that to Steven. He would try to drag all over Beach City.

"We're back and we replaced the food that _somebody_ ate!"

Steven gave a shout of joy and rushed over to Amethyst and Pearl who were carrying some bulky plastic bags. Amethyst shrugged at the accusation Pearl gave her but she couldn't lie and say she didn't eat all the snacks. The purple gem plopped down next to Jasper where Steven had been sitting a few moments before. She upended the plastic bags she had been carrying and several items spilled out. Jasper loomed over Amethyst so she had a clear view of the items. They were packages of chocolate, gram crackers, and marshmallows. There was also a package filled with thin metal rods, each half a foot long.

"For s'mores," Amethyst explained when Jasper look confused. She ripped open the packages and grabbed a marshmallow and a metal rod. She skewered the marshmallow and thrust it into the fire. Amethyst waited until the entire marshmallow was on fire before pulling it out. She allowed the flames to go out on their own, leaving the marshmallow to look more like a chunk of charcoal than food. Amethyst finished making her s'more before offering it to Jasper.

"I can't eat that," Jasper said, pushing away the offered s'more. Amethyst just shrugged and plopped it into her mouth.

Pearl had come over by now and soon everyone was sitting around the fire. Garnet must have used her future vision to predict this outcome because the fire was big enough for everyone to sit around it without being cramped.

"Did you win another alien, Peridot?" Pearl asked, pointing at the alien toy next to Jasper. The quartz gem saw Peridot's eyes flash to the toy like she wanted to steal it. Jasper growled at the gem and pulled the toy closer to her. Peridot frowned and crossed her arms.

"You left it alone so I took it back," Jasper said, her eyes challenging Peridot. The green gem met her gaze for a few moments before huffing and glaring at the fire.

Pearl saw the interaction and opened her mouth to chastise Jasper for whatever the quartz gem did but her eyes settled on Amethyst. She scowled at the purple quartz. "Don't eat everything again!"

Jasper turned her head and noticed that Amethyst had already gone through two entire chocolate bars and a pack of gram crackers. The purple shrugged and tossed the s'more ingredients to Steven on the other side of the fire. Steven and Connie quickly went about making their own s'mores, laughing and challenging each other to a s'more cookoff. Jasper had to concede that the longer she had to smell the marshmallows roasting in the fire, the more she wanted to try one.

Pearl must have noticed the way Jasper's eyes followed Steven's marshmallow as the boy pulled it away from the flames. "You can't eat strict solids yet but I suppose you can have a few s'mores if you don't eat them with the crackers."

Steven gasped in delight and ran to the other side, sitting in between Jasper and Pearl. "I can show you how to roast marshmallows!"

"You put them in the flames," Jasper said. "What more can there possibly be?"

"You have to know how long you want them toasted." He held up his skewer and displayed his lightly browned marshmallow. "Personally, I like them soft and a little chewy so I only leave them for a minute at the edge of the flames." His eyes moved to Amethyst who somehow got her hands on another package marshmallows. "Others might like them crunchy like Amethyst so she leaves them literally in the flames until it becomes all black."

"It's better," Amethyst said through a mouthful of charred marshmallows.

Jasper grabbed a skewer and worked on a marshmallow. She didn't know how long she should leave the marshmallow in the fire so she did what Steven did, taking it out when it became slightly brown. Jasper bit into it and frowned, it was too chewy and cold for her taste. The quartz gem put on another marshmallow and thrust it to the flames. It caught on fire and Jasper blew it out when the entire thing was charred. She waited a few moments for it to cool down before biting into it. Jasper quickly ate the rest and worked on another marshmallow and then another. These were better than banana smoothies!

"That a girl, sis!" Amethyst cheered. The two quartz gems took turns roasting their marshmallows to a charred husk.

"Must be a quartz thing," Peridot said to herself as she watched the two go through a whole bag of marshmallows. Lapis nodded in agreement. Peridot eyed the alien laying next to Jasper. If only it were made of metal, then she could steal it. When Steven offered Peridot his bag of marshmallows and a clean skewer, she shook her head. She found eating kind of disgusting, especially whatever the two were eating. Peridot looked up at Lapis and suddenly smiled. "You're blue."

Lapis chuckled despite herself and hugged her knees to her chest, resting a cheek on them to look at Peridot. "I've always been blue."

"No," Steven called out over the crackling of the fire and light chatter around him and Lapis lifted her head to look at the boy. Lapis noticed that in between marshmallows, Jasper would glance over to her. "You've been dull lately but now you're bright again!"

For some reason, Lapis had the suspicion that Steven meant more than the color of her body. She had known that Steven was far more perceptive than he lets on with his constant smiles and jokes but he usually hid it. Lapis looked back at the fire where Jasper's marshmallow had melted right off her rod which was now glowing red from being in the flames for too long. The sight made Lapis smile even if she didn't know why. "I guess you're right."


	12. When the Mind is Too Fuzzy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S TIME!!!!! TIME FOR THE EXPLICIT RATING TO FINALLY BE OF USE!!!!! YAY. Oh and um, Jasper has a tentidick, just a little warning to those who don't like them.

Jasper took deep, slow breaths. She took in a breath for two seconds, held it for another two, and let it go for three seconds. The quartz gem repeated her breathing exercise for at least ten minutes now, a hand rubbing her stomach gently to calm it. Jasper kept her eyes closed lest the room spin around her again. Spin.

The quartz gem's eyes wrenched open as a now familiar feeling churned her stomach. She grabbed the toilet in front of her with both hands and emptied her stomach for the fifth time that day. Jasper spat out the taste of vomit and heaved. A shaky hand pressed down the lever and the toilet flushed. Once again, Jasper's hand rubbed her stomach in lazy circles as she breathed slowly and deeply.

It was all Amethyst's fault. The damnable runt challenged her to a charred marshmallow eating contest. Jasper was going to decline but the pearl tried to forbid her from accepting which of course forced the quartz gem's hand into entering the contest. She lost count how many bags of marshmallows she alone went through, only that they were all coming back up.

Jasper groaned as she vomited again, cursing both Amethyst for her ridiculous challenge and Pearl for her incessant need to try to control everything. A part of her was impressed that she managed not to crush the toilet or dig her claws into the porcelain surface. Jasper flushed the toilet and slumped against the tub.

"I don't care if I go into a coma again," Jasper whimpered to herself, her eyes shutting in defeat, "I'm never eating again."

"Ah, don't be like that."

Jasper growled at the words and the voice that they belonged to. An eye peaked open just so it can glare at the cause of all this pain. Amethyst walked into the bathroom and the look of sympathy on her face tore another growl from Jasper.

Amethyst was unfazed by Jasper's hostility and jumped up to sit on the sink's counter. "Don't worry about the overeating thing, it took Steven a few tries to figure out what his limit is." The purple gem flashed Jasper a smug smirk. "Me on the other hand, I have no limit." She leaned back against the mirror, resting her head on her arms. "I can eat anything at any time. Seriously; I once had a foot-long sandwich made of a couple weeks old cheese, some meat that I don't even think PETA would know about, and the bread wasn't even bread, it was chocolate cake! The best part was that I drowned that bad boy in cooking oil." Amethyst patted her stomach happily, remembering that amazing sandwich.

Jasper, however, was anything but happy. As Amethyst described her creation, her stomach churned more and more. Finally, Jasper dove to the toilet and made it just in time. When she was done, she turned her head to snarl at Amethyst but had to hug the toilet once more. She heard Amethyst hop off her seat and walk over to her. For a moment, Jasper thought that the purple gem was going to make fun of her for having a weak stomach but Amethyst pulled back her wild hair and rubbed her back as Jasper dry heaved. The quartz gem spat and her body shivered with her weak chuckles.

"This is salt in my wounds," Jasper gasped. "I beat you to a pulp twice and now you're helping me like I'm some whelp." The quartz gem was going to say more but she became preoccupied.

Once she was done, Amethyst smacked her lightly on the head. "I just don't want to tell Pearl about any mess you could have made."

"I am more than capable of throwing my guts up without any help," Jasper tried to growl. She whined and flushed the toilet, resting her head against the tank cover, the cool surface helping a little bit.

Amethyst hummed at the snide remark but her hand didn't stop rubbing soothing circles into Jasper's back. "Maybe, but it's always best to make sure." Her shoulders shook as she laughed. "If you did make a mess and I could have prevented it, Pearl would make me pay. She might force me to clean my room if she was really pissed."

"Clean your room?" Jasper asked, leaning back to look at Amethyst. "How is that a severe punishment?"

Laughter filled the room as Amethyst's whole body quaked. "Oh man, I forgot I never showed you my room." She calmed down and gestured to the living room. "Okay, so you know how messy it got when you dumped all your crap onto the living table when you thought you lost your leaf thing last night?"

Jasper's eyes narrowed at the poor analogy but she nodded.

"Now take that mess, multiply it by like ten thousand and put it in a room about five times the size of the beach house."

A shudder passed through Jasper at the thought of having to clean that mess.

Amethyst grinned and nodded in approval at the look of disgust on Jasper's face. "Yep! I try but Pearl always wants me to clean up my junk." Her cheeks turned a shade darker as she scratched the back of her head. "But I mean, like Pearl would probably end up helping me with it since I'm not good at organizing and she is. I mean, she's like, _really_ organized and can go through everything in like only a few hours." Amethyst's eyes widened and her cheeks became a deep lavender when she realized she was rambling. "Are you uh done? With puking your guts up?"

Jasper glanced back at the toilet but this time her stomach didn't squeeze at the sight of it. "I think I'm done." She stood up and walked to the sink. Jasper turned it on to splash some cold water on her face, sighing in relief when the liquid hit her clammy skin.

"Oh, try taking a quick shower!" Amethyst said suddenly, already turning on the water for the shower before Jasper could reject the suggestion. She hurried out of the bathroom and came back with a clean cup. "And drink lots of water!"

It was then that Jasper noticed that Amethyst's blush hadn't left her face and the purple gem was doing everything she could not to meet Jasper's eyes. Amethyst placed the cup on the sink's counter and without another word left the bathroom and closed the door a little too hard. The cup nearly crashed onto the floor but Jasper was able to catch it before it fell off the counter.

Jasper stared at the closed door for a little bit, the cup still in her hand. Shaking her head and muttering about strange amethysts, Jasper filled the cup with cold water and downed it in seconds. She was starting to feel better and drank another glass before placing it on the counter. Jasper closed her eyes and willed her uniform to disappear. When she opened them again, she shivered at the sudden cold biting her bare skin. Jasper entered the shower and immediately exited with a yelp. Amethyst set it to boiling! Jasper reached in the shower and turned the nob until the water was refreshingly warm instead of scorching. She once again entered the shower and could already feel the water work out the knots Jasper acquired from sitting in front of the toilet for too long. Jasper wondered if humans had to go through this a lot. She really hoped not because she wasn't leaving the shower for quite a while and there was only one bathroom in the beach house.

As the warm water washed over Jasper's body, she couldn't help but start thinking about Lapis. Especially the way she laughed when the quartz gem had to wrestle a marshmallow bag from Amethyst and it ended up flying into the fire. Pearl had ended the contest after that. Jasper groaned and pushed her wild hair out of her face. Ever since she came back the water gem had always been on her mind, perhaps not at the forefront but always lurking. She took a bottle of shampoo and started to wash her hair, doing her best to forget about Lapis if only for a few minutes. Jasper lathered her hair, a tedious process. She considered having it cut several times now but she didn't trust any of the gems to do it without hurting her. When her hair was full of suds, Jasper stepped back under the spray, closing her eyes so that the shampoo didn't get into her eyes, a lesson she had to learn the hard way the first time she tried to shampoo her hair. As the suds washed away, Jasper tilted her head up so she could feel the spray of warm water on her face. An errant thought of Lapis's power having the same ability took root in Jasper's mind. Jasper felt the tip of her tentacle poke out and she let out a soft whine.

"Don't think about her," she growled to herself. Think about someone else, perhaps Peridot. The quartz warrior did her best to think about the small green gem but it had the opposite effect she desired. She started imagining what it would be like for her to take a shower with the technician, having to lean down in order to touch her body. Jasper whimpered as her tentacle unsheathed even more. She bet Peridot would call her a clod but do nothing to stop Jasper from cleaning her body and playing with it afterwards. She could see it clearly in her mind, Peridot shuddering with every stroke of her fingers, her hand covering Jasper's in an unnecessary precaution to make sure Jasper wouldn't stop. She could practically hear Peridot quiet but insistent moans and whimpers as she begged her to go harder and faster.

Jasper grunted and glanced down, her tentacle fully unsheathed and lightly pulsing with her need. She reached over and turned the knob so that the water that cascaded over her body was now cold. Jasper shivered and glanced down, grimacing at how her tentacle was still exposed, the water having no effect on her. The quartz gem grumbled and turned the water's temperature to its coldest setting. Jasper trembled and continued to wash her body, making sure that she wouldn't touch her tentacle and get it even more aroused.

Once her body was clean, Jasper got out of the shower, grabbing the orange towel from the towel rack. She dried herself off and glanced down, growling at how her tentacle was still on full display. "Fucking perfect," she grumbled, wiping the mirror free from the fog from the shower. The mirror was several weeks old, the crystal gems having to buy a new one to replace the one that Jasper had destroyed. The quartz gem sighed in disdain at the memory. She had just gotten out of the shower and glanced at the mirror and thinking it was the corrupted her, rammed her horns into it. Only Steven didn't mention the mirror incident to her ever. Jasper's eyes spied the price tag sticker on the bottom right of the looking glass. She knew that Pearl had deliberately left it there as a silent reminder for Jasper not to break things. At least now the writing was distorted enough that Jasper could no longer read the actual price.

Jasper's eyes went back to the image of the mirror. It was rare for the quartz gem to look at herself once she was freed from her bubble. Her eyes trailed from the horns peaking up from her beige hair, more visible now that her hair was weighed down from the water, to her luminescent orange eyes and extended claws. Jasper's lips lifted into a sneer so that her sharp canines were exposed. She still had her physical figure, tall and muscular, even for a quartz gem. Her eyes finally fell down to her pubic hair and the tentacle.

"I wonder how Peridot would react?" Jasper chuckled weakly. She imagined that the technician would be disgusted but maybe she would be intrigued. It was strange for Jasper that the thought of the small gem didn't fill her with loathing. Jasper shook her head, "Stop dreaming." But the thought wouldn't leave her be. Peridot would probably want to run a series of experiments on her or try to get Jasper to explain how it worked. Jasper would be all too eager to show the green gem exactly how it worked. Perhaps even Lapis would show Peridot how to play with it.

Jasper whimpered as her tentacle twitched, becoming fully erect and almost too painful to ignore. The quartz gem sighed and wrapped her hand around the shaft, finally giving into her needs. She gave it an experimental stroke, feeling the ridges that went up her shaft bump against the palm of her hand. A whimper forced itself out of Jasper's throat, her body unused to feeling pleasure. Her hand started an even pace as she brushed away her hair from her face with her free hand. Jasper groaned and panted, imaging Lapis and Peridot in the bathroom with her, both of their hands stroking her tentacle.

"Fuck," Jasper grunted, her hips rocking to the rhythm of her stroking. She could already feel herself getting closer and sped up her pace. Jasper gripped at the bathroom's counter as her knees threatened to buckle out from under her and sweat bead on her body. It had been far too long since she last gave into her needs. The quartz gem imagined Peridot under her, lapping at the tip of her tentacle while Lapis stroked her up and down from behind. Jasper covered her mouth with her hand to try and stifle the moans fighting to come out of her. Jasper rested her head on the mirror, opening one eye to watch what she was doing. Precum dripped out of the tip and made it easier for Jasper to stroke her tentacle.

The quartz gem growled weakly as she felt herself rise higher and higher. Jasper trembled, her hand working furiously on her shaft. Drool started to come out of her mouth as her eyes squeezed shut. "So close, so close," Jasper whimpered, imaging Peridot and Lapis smirking at each other before redoubling both their efforts to make the quartz gem come undone.

At the last moment, Jasper grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her tentacle, humping it until she finally fell over the edge. "Peridot, Lapis," Jasper moaned as she emptied herself into the towel. When her tentacle twitched and sheathed itself, the quartz gem threw away the towel in disgust, feeling guilt start to claw at her stomach.

"I just fucked myself to Peridot and Lapis," Jasper whispered to herself, disbelief in her voice that she allowed her primal instincts to take over her body. She really was weak. Jasper banished the thought and tried to phase on her clothing to no avail. After a few attempts, she realized that her mind was too hazy to complete the task. She glared at the dirty towel, blaming it for her lack of self-control.

She took a deep breath, immediately regretting it when she smelled her own arousal. Jasper tried once more to phase on her clothes before huffing in annoyance. Jasper grabbed a new towel and wrapped it around her body. She opened the door enough to glance outside. Jasper didn't hear anything move but slammed the door shut when she heard the temple door open. "Shit," she growled.

Jasper tightened the towel around herself, trying to formulate a plan. How was she going to get dressed now? She couldn't phase her clothes on and she couldn't leave. Maybe if she stayed in the bathroom for an hour, she would be level-headed enough to phase on her clothes.

"Do you need help?"

The quartz gem almost yelped in shock at Garnet's voice. How did she know she was in here? A deep blush spread across her cheeks as she realized that Garnet might know what her predicament was. Jasper gulped and rubbed the back of her neck. She opened the door slightly, just enough to see Garnet smiling knowingly at her. Damn the fusion. "Yeah, I do," Jasper admitted with a growl.

"Did you throw up on the floor?" Garnet asked.

Jasper hissed at the other gem. "You know damn well what I need help with!" She opened the door a little bit more so Garnet could see the blue towel she was using. Jasper felt her chest rumble with a growl at the way Garnet chuckled at her. "I can't phase my uniform on."

This time Garnet did not try to act as if she didn't know exactly what Jasper was doing. Her grin lowered into a conflicted frown. "Should we tell her?" Jasper's eyes narrowed when she noticed that the voice was slightly deeper than what Garnet's usually was. Ruby was talking. Garnet smiled again and shook her head. "No, Jasper will find out sooner or later." Jasper didn't even need to notice the soother pitch to know that Sapphire was now talking. Garnet refocused on the quartz gem in front of her. "I hope its sooner." The voice belonged to Garnet. "Wait here, I'll grab you some clothes."

Jasper waited a few moments after Garnet left to close the door. "Freaky fusion," she whispered to herself. Jasper wondered if the other gems had to deal with her bizarre behavior often.

"I heard that!" Garnet said to Jasper on the other side of the door, however the quartz gem could hear the humor in her voice.

Not even a minute later a knock was heard on the door and Jasper opened it to grab the clothing Garnet held out to her. The quartz gem was tempted to slam the door shut on the fusion's smug face but she didn't want to alert the rest of the gems. So, Jasper settled for a strained thank you that sounded more like a growl than words and the door clicking shut softly. Jasper grumbled at the faint laughter that slipped under the door as Garnet walked away. The quartz gem let her towel fall to the floor and was about to put on the shirt when her nose twitched at the scent. Jasper buried her face into the shirt and breathed deeply, grimacing when she realized whose clothing Garnet had offered to her. She tugged on the white tank top and pink boxers and grey sweatpants, which on Jasper looked more like a crop top and shorts, feeling humiliated that she was forced to wear Greg's clothes. No wonder the fusion was laughing but to Jasper all of this was a very poor joke.

Jasper left the bathroom, vowing to phase on her uniform and burn the clothes when her mind wasn't so fuzzy. She sat down on her couch and picked up Fangs of Love, frowning at the book. Jasper opened on the page she left off and tried to read it but she now knew every word that it became useless to try and lose herself in the story. She tossed the book back on the coffee table and the leaf she had been using as a bookmark fell out. Jasper reached out to grab it but a gasp made her lift her head with her arm stretched out.

Steven had woken up and was currently staring down at Jasper with stars in his eyes. He rushed out of his bed and ran down the stairs three at a time. "You're wearing human clothes!" His smile faltered as he tilted his head to one side. "Why are you wearing Dad's clothes?"

Jasper's face felt like it was on fire now and she scrambled to give an answer without telling the whole truth.

"When gems can't phase on their own uniform it usually means they have a lot on their mind," Garnet called out. Jasper turned her head and saw that the fusion was finishing cooking something in the kitchen. Garnet turned off the stove and walked over to them with two plates stacked with pancakes. She placed both of them in front of the two and Jasper scowled at the food. The fusion was getting on her nerves.

Jasper pushed her plate towards Steven and the boy didn't waste a second before moving the pancakes onto his own plate. Jasper got up from her couch to make her own breakfast. She started to make her smoothie, having seen Pearl do it enough times that she could do it on her own if she wished. It was just easier to let the pearl do it. Jasper added a banana to her smoothie and sipped at it from one of the stools.

Garnet watched Steven devour the food for a few minutes from her spot on Jasper's couch. She didn't have to fear that the quartz gem would try and growl at her, the gem wouldn't dare as long as she never told the others about what transpired in the bathroom. The knowledge that she had leverage over Jasper made Garnet's day all the better. "Oh, Steven." Steven looked up from his quickly disappearing mountain of food. "I won't be able to take you to the arcade today."

As Garnet had predicted, the boy pouted and crossed his arms. "Why not?" Steven all but whined, giving the gem his best doggy eyes.

Usually, Garnet would have conceded and do whatever Steven wanted but she had to stay strong today. "There has been a disturbance at the Galaxy Warp and Pearl, Amethyst, and I are going to investigate." Garnet didn't technically have to go, Pearl and Amethyst would do just fine if they didn't start to bicker at one another, but she saw a possible future that was too good to pass up. She turned her head to look at Jasper who was now cleaning her cup and blender container. "You will take Steven to the arcade."

"Why?" Jasper grunted back, setting up the dishes to dry. When she looked back, Garnet had lowered her glasses so she could see all three of her eyes. The quartz gem wanted to hiss at the smirk on the fusion's face, knowing full well that she needed to keep Garnet happy lest she had to deal with a prying amethyst and a disgusted pearl. "Fine," Jasper grumbled, "but only for an hour!"

Garnet nodded and gestured to the microwave, "There's money in there for the two of you and if you don't spend it all, you can use it later." She got up from the couch and ruffled Steven's hair before heading over to the warp pad. Light shot up from the device but before Garnet vanished, she smiled at Jasper. "Perhaps you can buy some clothes for the next time your brain gets too full." She was gone before Jasper could roar at her to mind her own business.

Steven finished his pancakes and placed the dirty dishes into the sink before smiling up at the quartz gem. "Garnet knows something," he whispered as if talking too loudly would ruin the moment.

"She knows nothing," Jasper said carefully. She opened the microwave and frowned at the wad of money there. She didn't think that arcade games were so expensive. Jasper pocketed the money in Greg's sweatpants. Steven was already bouncing up and down from his excitement, telling Jasper all sorts of games that the arcade had and which ones she would love. Today was going to be a very long day.


	13. Buddwick Public Library

Jasper and Steven walked down the boardwalk in silence. Jasper was glad she didn't bring the cheeseburger back pack with her, in this heat it would undoubtedly cause her to sweat uncontrollably. Besides, the quartz gem didn't need any of the medical equipment before so she probably wouldn't need it for this little endeavor. The boy was always a few feet ahead of Jasper but the quartz gem didn't mind. The space gave her a chance to look at the beach. She could still see the remains of the fire that Garnet and Greg had put together if she squinted her eyes. The sound of Steven groaning in despair made Jasper's eyes go back to the boy.

Steven was frowning at the arcade, closed off to the public by metal roller shutters. Jasper walked over and saw that Steven was frowning at the sign taped to the metal sheet.

Arcade closed for the day! - Mr. Smiley :)

The sloppy writing led Jasper to believe that Mr. Smiley may have celebrated New Year's Eve a little too much and was now paying for it. She looked down at Steven who kicked at the metal gate with a huff.

"I was going to show you Road Killer and Meat Beat Mania," Steven whined, looking longingly at the gate as if he could will it to rise up to allow them access to the arcade. He turned his head back towards Jasper. "What do you want to do today?"

Jasper was going to suggest that they just head back to the beach house but now that she was outside, the quartz gem was less inclined to go back to the stuffy temple. She thought about it for a bit and nodded to herself. "I want to get another book. Fangs of Love was horrible the first time I read it and it didn't improve much the ten times afterwards."

Steven grinned and started walking back the way they came. "I know a place with lots of books and it's a few blocks away! You'll love it." He turned his body to face Jasper and walked backwards, making sure that the quartz gem followed him.

The two continued to travel this way to the place Steven was going on about. He kept telling Jasper different names of authors or different book titles that he thought Jasper might like. The quartz gem kept an indifferent face throughout his rambling but she made a mental checklist of the authors and book titles to look for when Steven led her to wherever he was leading her.

Finally after half an hour of walking, Steven gave a joyful shout. He sprinted over to the building in front of them and slipped inside. The quartz gem frowned at the words that were displayed near the top. Buddwick Public Library. A terrible name, Jasper thought. She wasn't really impressed with the architecture, it was just a brick building with the front wall covered with windows. The two rows of hedges growing out of their stone encasement thus creating a neat lane that led to the library did remind Jasper of the lighted pathways on the ship she had taken with Peridot. At the reminder of the ship and in consequence the green gem, Jasper shook her head and quickly headed towards the entrance, as if she could leave her thoughts outside the building.

Jasper stayed in the doorway, the glass door held out by her right hand. She couldn't stop staring at the inside of the library. There were so many books! The table displayed at the front of the library alone must hold at the very least twenty different novels, each set of books stacked in orderly rows. Jasper never really put much stock into her ever-lasting life but right now she was grateful that she never aged. A sudden thought occurred to Jasper that she could just live here and spend the rest of eternity reading. She wouldn't get into any trouble and the gems wouldn't have to worry if she was ever going to run away. All Jasper needed was a fridge, bathroom, and a bed or maybe she could just use the couches in the reading center.

"Close the door! You're letting all the cool air out!"

The fantasy that Jasper was creating was crushed by the harsh voice to her left. Jasper took a step inside the library and let the door swing shut. She looked to whoever had yelled at her and saw an elderly woman glaring at her from behind her desk. Jasper blinked her eyes at the woman, the human looked like she was going to drop dead any moment and yet she yelled at Jasper like she was some child! The quartz gem was liking this library more and more. She walked over to the desk and elderly woman. The human didn't shy away from her in the slightest, in fact it seemed that she straightened her back in her little chair with every step Jasper took. The human had to lean back and crane her neck up to look at Jasper but the mean glare never faltered. "What do you want?" she asked in a gruff voice.

It was official. This library was Jasper's new favorite place, not that she had many in the first place. "I want to know where the Spirit Morph Saga is," Jasper answered. Connie had tried to get Jasper to read the series numerous times before when the quartz gem first complained about Fangs of Love and Steven even said Jasper could borrow his books but she never took him up on his offer. It would be shameful if she borrowed the books from a half-human but after hearing about the witch Lisa and her falcon Archimicarus, she was intrigued and knew she had to get her hands on the books somehow.

The woman gave a little annoyed grunt and typed away at the ancient computer set up next to her. Jasper could easily make out the words the old woman was muttering under her breath and each insult she threw at the quartz gem only made her want to stay in this building more. At long last a human that wasn't afraid of her! It was just too bad that the woman probably only had a few years left. Jasper wondered if Steven's healing powers could reverse time and make the old woman live longer.

"That childish series is in the back next to those god-awful vampire books." The elderly woman gave Jasper a smile but it was more of a sneer. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No," Jasper said, already heading to where the librarian had said the books where.

"A thank you would be much appreciated you doped up teenager!" the old woman yelled at her.

Jasper simply smiled to herself. Why hadn't she been shown this wonderful place before? Even the people stop reading their books in shock to stare at her didn't spoil her mood. The quartz gem found the book shelf that the series was held in and scanned all the different titles. It took her about ten minutes to find the series she wanted but she now had an entire list of books she was going to read after the series. Jasper grabbed all of the books, four in total. She looked at the cover of the first book and grinned at the sight of the falcon. Hopefully there would be lots of fighting.

With the books safely tucked under her arm, Jasper started to search for Steven. She knew that he was most likely where the comics were but she had no idea where the comic book section was. Maybe she can ask the delightfully angry librarian. Jasper turned and took a step back to the front of the library but she must have kicked a foot ladder because she heard something crash a second later. She looked down and gulped.

What she thought was a foot ladder was actually a certain green gem. Peridot rubbed at her head with her eyes shut in pain. "Watch where you're going, clod!" Peridot opened her eyes to glare at the person who so rudely knocked her over but her eyes widened at the sight of the quartz gem looking down at her with her arms full of books. "Jasper!?"

Jasper grunted in a response, words failing her. She had knocked down Peridot and the gem was lying on her back, staring up at her in shock. Jasper shook her head to get rid of the sudden images that bloomed in them, all of which involved Peridot staying on her back. A part of her feared that she was going into heat. "I didn't see you," she said, her voice rougher than normal.

Peridot didn't seem to noticed the strange pitch because she got up and brushed off some imaginary dirt from her uniform. "Well you should look where you're going." She eyed the stack of books that Jasper was holding carelessly. "Are those for Steven?"

Before Jasper could answer another person that she hoped not to see for a great while walked out from between two bookshelves. Lapis was reading a magazine but she seemed to know where to go because she walked straight towards Peridot, somehow unaware that Jasper was standing right in front of her. "Hey, I found the magazine I want. We can go now unless you wanted to look for those manuals on cars." Her eyes lifted from the magazine and landed right on Jasper. "Jasper?" Unlike Peridot, Lapis's eyes focused on Jasper's clothing. "Why are you wearing Greg's clothes?"

"Nothing else would fit me," Jasper answered with a shrug, her mind scrambling to find an excuse to get away. To hell with the fact that she was supposedly the greatest quartz warrior to be ever created, all Jasper wanted to do was to leave this place and never return.

Peridot's chest puffed out and she raised her pointer finger while her other hand went behind her back. "Actually, that is incorrect. Humans have advanced far enough in their technology to create clothing in your size."

Jasper's right eye twitched when she remembered Garnet's little comment on buying new clothes. The fusion saw this occurring! She was going to make Garnet pay for trapping her in a corner like this. Jasper fought to keep calm, especially with the fragile books in her hands when she realized that she could do nothing to the fusion. Garnet had Jasper on a tight leash and they both knew that. Damn the fusion!

Jasper's attention went back to the two gems in front of her as Lapis rolled her eyes and closed her magazine. She nudged Peridot's side with a chuckle. "I'm sure Jasper doesn't want to hear about humans making clothing." She nodded towards the books in Jasper's arms, the bottom ones now boring holes where the quartz gem's claws had dug in. "You might want to stop that or the words won't be legible."

The quartz gem cursed and shifted the books so that her claws were not near the covers. Jasper looked back at the gems and noticed that they were studying her, probably trying to figure out what caused Jasper to bury her claws seemingly on accident into the books. "I didn't know that humans had clothes in my size and the fusion tricked me into wearing Greg's clothing," Jasper said half-truthfully.

"Well if you must know," Peridot began, both her arms folded behind her back as she started to explain the history of human clothing. Jasper doubted that half of what Peridot was saying was fact but hearing the green gem talk got her mind away from Garnet.

Lapis sighed and opened her magazine again, glancing up at Jasper. "You're going to get it now," she said low enough that Peridot didn't notice the water gem was speaking to Jasper. "The last time she got like this, she wouldn't stop talking for hours about a television show's characters' romances." Lapis's eyes lifted from the page she was pretending to read as she tried to recall something. "I think she called them ships."

Jasper cocked her head at the name. "Why would she name a relationship after a water vehicle?"

Lapis just shrugged and her eyes flashed back to the magazine when Peridot gave an exaggerated cough. Even though Jasper and Lapis were caught not paying attention, Lapis gave the green gem a small grin while Jasper just shifted the books again, the top one leaning a little too far to the left for her comfort.

"As I was saying," Peridot continued on her lesson and Lapis gave a whisper of a laugh. The green gem was now talking about where humans could buy clothing and even places where they pay for their clothing to be washed. Jasper didn't really listen to the words but she kept looking at Peridot like she was. Jasper noticed that Peridot would sometimes glance at Lapis or to the ceiling when she was trying to remember some fact.

Cute, Jasper thought to herself when Peridot blushed as she stumbled over the name of a particular article of clothing. Jasper's eyes sneaked their way back to Lapis who had her magazine open but her eyes were trained on Peridot instead of the page. Jasper decided that the way Lapis had a small smile like she didn't even know what her lips were doing was cute as well.

"Hey, are you even listening?"

It took a moment and Lapis's eyes lifting to look at her for Jasper to realize that Peridot had caught her not listening once again. "Yes," Jasper lied.

Peridot's eyes narrowed as her foot tapped on the ground. For a moment, Jasper connected Pearl with Peridot but threw the thought away at once. "What was I saying then?" Peridot asked.

Jasper frowned at the question and racked her brains to remember what the technician was talking about a second before. The quartz gem almost fidgeted when blue and green eyes stayed on her. "Something about humans buying clothing for special occasions," she answered at last.

Peridot continued to stare at her for a few moments before nodding her head in approval. "Correct." The green gem started talking about something else but Jasper couldn't even hope to listen to the words.

"Found you!"

Jasper was eternally grateful for the human boy. Steven hurried over to the trio, his arms full of comic books. He smiled at Lapis and Peridot. "Hi guys, how do you like the library?"

Peridot shrugged while rolling her eyes. "It's all right but there aren't a lot of books on electronics and there's nothing on meep morps." She gestured at Lapis. "She loves coming here though."

Lapis gave a noncommittal hum. "The magazines are fun to read if they have the right issues."

Steven nodded and held up the comic books he was holding. Jasper was slightly impressed that the boy was not straining or leaning forward with all the weight he was carrying. "I know how you feel, Lapis. I've been reading the same comic books series for over a year now because someone always checks out the next issue before I can read it." A devious grin spread across his face. "But now I have all the issues! All twenty-one of them!" He looked back at Jasper and noticed what books she was holding. "You're gonna read Unfamiliar Familiar!? Oh, you're so going to love it!" He shifted the comic books so he had a free hand and grabbed Jasper's arm. Steven pulled and Jasper took a step forward, nearly sending Steven to the ground with the sudden slack. He grinned at Peridot and Lapis and waved goodbye. "I'll see you two later."

Jasper and Steven went to the front desk to check out the books. Jasper looked behind her and saw Lapis bending down to whisper something into Peridot's ear. Whatever it was caused the green gem to blush madly but Jasper couldn't make out the words because Steven was rambling about how great the Spirit Morph Saga was. The two placed their stacks of books on the front desk and the elderly woman went to work checking the comic books out under Steven's name. The librarian was a quick worker, Jasper noted, but her hands faltered when they reached the bottom Jasper's stack. She picked up the book delicately and examined the holes that adorned the cover of the first book. "Who did this?" she asked, anger laced in her words.

"I did," Jasper said honestly. The librarian glared at her with so much venom that Jasper's claws instinctively lengthen in case of a fight. "I didn't do it on purpose," she explained.

"Didn't do it on purpose?" Her voice had barely concealed rage. "I've been working here for most of my life and this," she pointed a sharp nail to one of the holes, "does not happen on accident. You'll have to pay for it."

Jasper shrugged and reached down to grab the wad of cash. At least Garnet sent her here prepared. It didn't mean that she despised the fusion any less for holding the bathroom incident over her head but nonetheless, she sent Jasper with some money to pay for the damage she inevitably caused. The quartz gem handed the wad of cash over to the librarian.

The elderly woman quickly counted the money and glared at Jasper. "I only need fifteen dollars, you moron." She tossed the rest of the cash back and the quartz gem caught it without flinching.

On a whim, Jasper pushed the wad of cash back into the librarian's hands. "I want to buy all of the books. Mine and Steven's."

The librarian grabbed the wad of cash without a hint of a smile and rescanned everything. Steven frowned at the price of it all but didn't express his concern. The old woman counted the money that the two owed and gave the rest back before putting the books into plastic bags for the two to carry. Apparently the comic books and novels didn't cost all of the money Jasper had. Jasper frowned at the money she still had. If Garnet foresaw this then why did the fusion give her so much extra.

Jasper and Steven grabbed their respective bags and left the library. Steven's hand disappeared into his bag and pulled out the first issue. He opened the first page and began reading, having walked home from the library so many times that he didn't need to look up. Besides, if Steven was about to walk into any trouble, Jasper would just hoist him up. "That was brave, you know," he said without looking up. "Margery is really mean."

"Margery?" Jasper asked, looking both ways before crossing the street with Steven. She grimaced at how Steven didn't bother looking to make sure it was safe. Perhaps she should leave a note for Pearl.

"Margery is the librarian," Steven answered with a laugh. "The first time I took Lapis to the library we almost both got banned. She was playing with some water in a vase and Margery threatened to throw her out."

Jasper gave a bored hum but her mind was working overtime. What had Lapis told to Peridot to illicit such a reaction? The quartz gem rubbed at the back of her neck at the abrupt fear that Garnet had somehow informed them of what Jasper did in the bathroom. Jasper cursed the idea but it still loomed over her like the sky. The closer Steven and she got to the temple, the more Jasper convinced herself that Garnet had ratted her out to the two gems.

After walking for half an hour, Steven engrossed in his comic book and Jasper absorbed in her own mind, the temple grew from the horizon. Jasper could just make out a figure leaning against the railing of the porch and with a sinking feeling, realized it was Garnet. The fusion did not make any move to greet the two as they headed towards the beach house. Steven finished the first issue and made a noise that was in between a gasp of surprise and a laugh of delight. The boy ran up the stairs ahead of Jasper and the quartz gem could hear him talk about his new comic books and how Jasper was nice enough to buy them for him.

For the most part, Garnet didn't show any reaction asides a small lift of her lips and an occasional hum. When Steven was finished speaking, Garnet ruffled his hair. "Make sure you put them away where Amethyst can't find them. You might not see them ever again," she warned.

Steven gave a grunt and a nod before hurrying inside the house. At this point Jasper had reached the top of the stairs and had just opened the door to let herself in.

"How is Lapis and Peridot?" Garnet asked, her back still turned towards Jasper.  
A dangerous hiss came out of Jasper's mouth as her hand tightened on the doorframe, her claws just starting to dig into the surface.

Garnet only chuckled, a hand lifting to push up her visors. "Just wanted to make sure they were fine."

Jasper entered the house, the words, "Freaky fusion," slipping from her mouth dripping in venom. Damn the fusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no way Steven did not show Lapis or Peridot the library. Also normal libraries have a resident cat or dog (or at least the ones I remember). Beach City has a resident Jasper.


	14. Check-Up

Jasper yawned into her hand for the fifth time. She stood outside of the beach house, watching Steven and Greg try to shove Lion up the stairs. The animal wouldn’t budge and kept making pitiful mewing noises, staring imploringly at Jasper. The quartz gem rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

At the rate the two were going, she was going to be late to her check-up at the hospital. Everything was going fine earlier: she woke up without having a night terror, made her own breakfast with two bananas, and finished the third book of the Spirit Morph Saga. It wasn’t until Steven had mentioned that she was supposed to have a check-up did everything take a turn for the annoying. Lion, who had been sleeping on Steven’s bed, sat straight up at once and rushed down the stairs. He pressed his face against Steven’s shoulder, an action that Jasper knew meant the animal wanted something. Steven had laughed and told Lion that lions weren’t allowed at the hospital. Lion then preceded to pace in front of the door and as soon as Greg came to get Jasper, ran out and waited at the bottom of the stairs for the others to follow.

Jasper watched the entire ordeal with a stoic face and didn’t lift a finger to help the two get Lion back inside the beach house. She leaned against Greg’s van as she saw Steven try a different tactic. The boy grabbed a stick and threw it up the stairs, whistling for Lion to fetch. The pink animal huffed and took a step back towards the van, causing Greg to fall down with a surprised yell.

Lion looked down at Greg for a moment before bending down and grabbing him by his leg gently. Greg yelled and tried to push Lion away but the animal simply let go to grab him by the back of his shirt. Lion stared at Jasper, ignoring Greg’s hopeless attempts to push Lion away and Steven telling him to put his dad down, with eyes that clearly said: If I don’t go, he doesn’t go.

A heavy sigh left Jasper’s mouth but she knew it was inevitable that the animal would somehow come along with them. She jerked her head once and like it was a cue, Lion dropped Greg onto the ground.

Greg jumped up and ran behind the van, his head poking out of the corner. “You should really train him more bud,” he said to Steven. He tried to sound casual but the way he was staring at Lion was anything but. “Maybe feed him more too.”

“Lion doesn’t eat people, dad,” Steven said, a hand patting Lion’s mane. He seemed to have already forgotten the tantrum Lion had. He looked up at Jasper. “Ready to go?”

Jasper nodded impatiently. Steven climbed into the passenger seat of the van and Greg hurried to the driver’s seat. Jasper rolled her eyes again and glanced at Lion. He stretched and pawed the ground. The van’s engine sputtered to life and the group was off, Jasper easily keeping pace with the vehicle.

After a long run, the four stopped at the parking lot of the hospital. Jasper got back up on her feet and stretched to get the kinks out of her back. Steven and Greg exited the van and were already heading inside the building. Jasper followed them in and saw that Greg was at the receptionist desk confirming Jasper’s appointment. The quartz gem looked around the waiting room and saw the dread in most of their faces. She started to wonder whether it was dread for themselves or dread for others but soon ended the thought.

“The good news is that we got here half an hour early,” Greg said as he walked back to Jasper.

“Half an hour?” Jasper repeated in confusion. She looked down at Steven who was watching some small children play with their mothers with a frown. “Why are we here thirty minutes before my check-up?”

It took Steven a moment to wrench his eyes away from the playing families to answer Jasper. “We would have been here an hour early but Lion took a lot of time.”

Lion gave an indigent huff but did not try to disprove Steven’s point.

“It’s always better to be early than to be late,” Steven finished. He sat down in a nearby chair and petted Lion’s back when the animal came over to lay down in front of him.

Jasper did not see Steven’s logic but she sat down without another word. She wished she had thought to bring the last book with her. The quartz gem contented herself with looking about the waiting room, watching how doctors came and went, sometimes taking a person or talking to a group of people. One time the doctor looked as if he saw a ghost but he kept his composure well enough to deliver news that sent an elderly looking couple into tears. Jasper frowned at the reaction, what had happened? Was their child’s gem shattered?

She sent a quick glance to Steven and noticed that he was watching the couple too, playing with his right hand. Jasper sighed and went back to looking at the other people, keeping her eyes away from the sobbing couple and distraught doctor.

Finally, the doors swung open again and Dr. Maheswaranh walked out. Several people scattered about the waiting room stood up as one. Jasper watched in confusion as the doctor walked up to each individual or group and talk quickly and quietly with them. Every time, a look of pure relief flooded their faces and sometimes a person who hug her with a happy sob. With a start, Jasper realized that they were all friends or families of Dr. Maheswaranh’s patients and she was secretly impressed that the human took care of so many lives.

Once she was finished updating her patients’ families, Dr. Maheswaranh made her way to Jasper. She looked at Greg, Steven, and Lion before her eyes settled on Jasper. “Are any of them staying for your appointment?”

Jasper didn’t know what to say so she just shrugged.

Dr. Maheswaranh made a clicking noise with her tongue as she thought of how to say this. “I believe it would be unwise for them to come as well.” When the four looked at her in confusion, the doctor sighed. “I am going to give you a physical and some aspects of it may be uncomfortable for you if others are present.

Understanding made Greg’s cheeks burn an angry red. “Oh! Well, uh, we’ll just stay here waiting for you to come back.”

“Why?” Steven asked, not understanding why Jasper wouldn’t want them there for her appointment.

“Trust me Stew-ball, it’s better for us to stay right here.”

Steven wasn’t satisfied with the explanation. “Pearl told me that someone needs to be with her throughout the check-up.” He looked up at Jasper with a little shrug. “It’s more for your protection in case you uh-“ Steven faltered with the words but the quartz gem knew what he was trying to say. The others wanted someone to always be with her in case she reverted.

Jasper glanced at Lion and grunted, “Come on.”

Lion got back on his feet and rubbed his head against Jasper’s arm purring. Jasper gave him a hiss but knew it was futile to try to get him to stop touching her.

The three left the waiting room but Dr. Maheswaranh was leading them away from the examination rooms. Jasper raised an eyebrow but did not ask any questions. Dr. Maheswaranh took them to an elevator and pressed her ID against a black box near the elevator, a light ding ringing out a moment after. The doors opened and the three got in. The doctor pressed on the number three and the elevator rose swiftly. Dr. Maheswaranh made no effort to explain herself, she just exited the elevator and walked down the brightly lit hallway. Jasper and Lion shared a glance before following the doctor to the last door. They entered and the quartz gem had to bit her lip unless she let out an enraged hiss.

Dr. Maheswaranh had led them to an operational room with a gallery full of prying eyes and scribbling hands. She turned to look at Jasper and the quartz gem could read the agitation in her eyes. “Several of the doctors caught wind of your existence and they all well, want to examine you.” Her voice made it obvious that she wanted nothing more than to tell the other doctors to leave her patient alone.

Jasper looked back at the gallery to study the doctors. She narrowed her eyes and noticed that most of them looked uneasy. The quartz gem snarled at them and felt her chest rumble with laughter as all except one jumped in shock. The one that didn’t flinch leaned forward, watching Jasper in fascination. Jasper noticed that this one was different from the others: she looked younger and was wearing light blue scrubs instead of dark blue.

“She’s one of mine.”

The one in light blue scrubs smiled and wrote down a few notes, the other doctors hurrying to do the same.

“Alice is the only intern up there and she has more courage than the doctors who have been in this hospital for decades,” Dr. Maheswaranh continued as she looked over the equipment she brought with her. “I rarely take on interns but after she successfully performed a heart transplant after only being here for a month, I knew I had to have her.”

Jasper nodded, she didn’t know humans had to switch their hearts. She wondered if Steven had to on a regular basis. She looked at the instrument that Dr. Maheswaranh was holding and remembered it from the last time. Jasper sat on the bed and held out her arm. “If those fools are going to stare at least try to hurry it along.”

Dr. Maheswaranh chuckled and slipped on the blood pressure cuff. She then grabbed another instrument and put it on Jasper’s finger. Immediately, the screen to the left of the table flashed on and the lines bounced up and down. This time Jasper knew that the screen was showing her heartrate. Dr. Maheswaranh waited a few moments before saying aloud, “Heartrate is 55 beats per minute.”

“55 beats per minute!?” a voice called out from the gallery.

Jasper looked at the man who gave the outburst. He was older than Dr. Maheswaranh by at least half a lifetime. “My heart is slower than humans.”

“But how do you get blood throughout your body?” Alice asked bravely. Unlike the other doctor, she sounded intrigued and excited.

“You tell me Alice,” Dr. Maheswaranh said. “She is nearly twice the size of the average female and yet her heartrate is slower.”

Alice took her time to think of an answer. She glanced at the other doctors and saw that they were also trying to think of a solution to the complex puzzle presented to them. Alice chew on her right thumb nail as she banished all her previous teachings on human anatomy. This Jasper was not a human so comparing her to them was not going to help anyone. Alice could feel her mentor’s eyes on her and she fought for the answer. She knew that Dr. Maheswaranh expected her to be the first to answer and she didn’t want to disappoint.

Finally, her eyes widened. It was so simple! “Her heart is stronger!” she exclaimed. The doctors looked at her as if she had just said one plus one equaled four. Alice met their stares without fear. “Her heart must be stronger than the average human to support so much blood flow which would explain why it is so slow. If it was any faster, it would be overtaxed and eventually give up.”

“Excellent, Alice!” Dr. Maheswaranh praised with a smile. She could hear the other doctors grumble at how they were outdone by a pupil. The doctor grabbed the ball that was hooked up to the heart pressure cuff and gave it several squeezes. After a while her eyebrows furrowed as she read the numbers. “It’s higher than usual,” she muttered. “Have you been experiencing any stress lately?”

Jasper grimaced at the question. “No.” It was a lie. That morning she awoke from a very exciting dream featuring Peridot and Lapis. She dashed to bathroom to take care of her withering tentacle. Of course, when she came out Garnet was in the kitchen making breakfast for Steven. Damn the fusion.

Dr. Maheswaranh narrowed her eyes, knowing that Jasper was lying to her by the way her heartrate accelerated. “The patient’s blood pressure is higher than normal due to recent stress.” She grabbed an otoscope and went about looking at Jasper’s ears. “We’re not going to do a hearing test today since we don’t have anything more powerful than the last machine.” She told the gallery that her ears were clear. “Have your hearing grown stronger than the last time you were here?”

“Yes,” Jasper answered. “I can hear the hushed conversations that Dr. Miller and Dr. Yon are having at the end of the gallery. They are wondering if my stripes were tattooed into my skin and whether or not I have something called a tramp stamp of some butterfly.” She waited a moment before continuing, “Oh, and Dr. White is wondering if your intern fucked you to get a spot on the gallery.”

Dr. Maheswaranh did not show any emotion on her face but her eyes were so ablaze that Lion took a step closer to Jasper. She turned to look at Dr. White who tried his best to disappear into his chair. “Get out.” Dr. White ran out of the gallery and Jasper was somewhat shocked that there was no tail between his legs. “Is there anything else that my colleagues are saying?” she asked Jasper.

The quartz gem smirked viciously at the remaining doctors. “Nothing of importance,” she answered. “Oh, but your intern muttered that she doesn’t need to fuck you to earn her place and that if she was under Dr. White’s charge, she would probably have to suck his cock to even hold a scalpel for a second.”

“I merely meant to point at the hypocrisy of Dr. White’s assessment of my abilities,” Alice called out. Even if she was caught insulting her superior, the way her eyes sparkled showed that she didn’t fear any repercussion.

“I would happen to agree,” Dr. Maheswaranh concluded. She grabbed the other device and Jasper grimaced at the sight of it. The doctor clicked it on and Jasper squinted her eyes at the sudden brightness. “Reaction is normal and the pupils still slit like a feline.”

Nobody responded to the news and Jasper reasoned that they were afraid that she would expose a secret conversation.

Dr. Maheswaranh placed the device down and grabbed a block of wood from the table. She held it up for the gallery to see. “This wood has a sheet of metal in the middle. It would require tremendous pressure to pierce the metal.” She gave the block to Jasper who promptly put it in her mouth.

Like before, she slowly shut her jaws and her fangs dug into the wood even easier than before. Jasper closed her mouth and was confused, where was the metal? She opened her mouth and took out the block. “There’s no metal in here.”

Jasper looked up and saw Dr. Maheswaranh staring at her. She took the block from Jasper to inspect the holes. “This was easier to bite into than before?” The quartz gem nodded. “There was a centimeter-thick sheet of metal in here and you pierced it without trying.”

The sound of furious writing met Jasper’s ears. It was now that Jasper noticed Dr. Maheswaranh was the only one not taking notes. “Why aren’t you scribbling down comments?” she asked.

Dr. Maheswaranh nodded to the gallery. “Why bother when I have fourteen doctors to do it for me?” She put the block of wood into a plastic bag. She grabbed a syringe and looked at Jasper’s arm. “I’m going to draw some blood. Clench your fist and hold out your arm”

“Why?” Jasper asked as she held out her arm willingly. She watched as Dr. Maheswaranh located a good vein and set about sanitizing the area.

“I want to study it further and see if any blood types are compatible to it in case you ever need more blood.” She glanced up and held the needle close to the vein. “Three, two, one.” Dr. Maheswaranh stuck in the needle and Jasper hissed in pain. She took the blood and removed the needle without incident.

Jasper was confused. “Why would I need more blood?”

Alice’s voice came from the gallery. “You may get into an accident and lose a lot of blood.”

The quartz gem furrowed her brows. “If I am too badly damaged I will simply retreat to my gem.”

“I’m sorry, retreat to your gem?” Alice repeated. “Can you explain?”

Jasper scratched the back of her neck. “When gems receive too much physical damage, she would go into her gem.”

“But what happens to your body?”

“It’s only an illusion constructed from our gems.” Jasper glanced at Dr. Maheswaranh and was unnerved by the look of concentration on her face, as if she just realized a problem with her previous methods.

Dr. Maheswaranh spoke up before Alice or any other doctor could say anything or ask another question. “You’re organic though.” She looked down at the syringe full of blood and her face paled. “You’re organic,” she said again.

Jasper realized what Dr. Maheswaranh and Alice were getting at. She was organic. She could bleed. She could die. The quartz gem felt her heart start to quicken. She couldn’t retreat to her gem. She could be killed. Her life could end at any moment.

Suddenly, Jasper felt warmth seep into her skin. She looked down and Lion stared up at her, his head pressed against the arm that blood was taken from. He began to purr and Jasper’s heartrate slowed to normal. She looked at Dr. Maheswaranh and saw the question in her eyes. Jasper gave a quick nod.

“Get out, all of you,” Dr. Maheswaranh barked at the doctors. “You’ve seen enough and you all have your own patients to attend to.”

They all filed out of the gallery, most of them muttering dark things about being shoved out of an exciting discovery. Only Alice had the decency to nod at Dr. Maheswaranh before exiting. Dr. Maheswaranh returned the nod but she glared at all the others. When the door finally slammed shut, she smiled apologetically at Jasper. “They’re vultures, many of them. It seems that most doctors get bored with simple heart or neurological problems and want to play with the next new toy.”

Jasper narrowed her eyes at the doctor as her words rubbed the quartz gem wrong. “Am I a toy for you to play with?”

Dr. Maheswaranh took her time to think of her next words but eventually she chuckled with a nod. “Yes, you are and I have a feeling that you prefer it that way instead of being an actual patient.”

“I don’t care how you see me as long as don’t die,” the quartz gem responded.

“And I don’t intend for that to happen,” Dr. Maheswaranh said. “My daughter has taken a liking to your reading sessions and it would be a shame if they were suddenly to stop while the two of you are in the middle of Shakespeare’s originals.” She walked to the door and gestured for Jasper and Lion to follow. The three exited the operation room and made their way out to the exercise area outside. She stopped in front of a brand new looking punching bag. Dr. Maheswaranh placed her hand on it and gave it a small push. “I ordered this special just for you. Like the block of wood, there is metal inside but this is a three-inch thick rod.” She took a few steps back. “Go ahead and headbutt it.”

Jasper frowned at the punching bag as it slowed to a stop. She took a glance at Dr. Maheswaranh, “I can headbutt it any way I want?”

“As long as it doesn’t level out the hospital,” Dr. Maheswaranh joked.

The quartz gem nodded and walked ten meters away from the punching bag. Her heart started to pound at the thought of what she was about to do and the fear that she could no longer do it. Jasper rolled her shoulders and broke into a run, gaining speed quickly. When she was five meters away, she leapt once and spin into the air. Jasper felt the spin go on longer and build up speed and went into a spin dash. She felt the familiar roll of her body as she sped towards her target. At the last second, she exited the spin dash and her horns slammed into the punching bag. For a split second, she felt resistance from the metal rod but it bent under her momentum and the chains gave a weak creak before breaking. The punching bag smashed into the wall and through it. Jasper stayed on all fours as she panted in excitement as doctors rushed in to inspect the new hole. She noticed that most of them were from the gallery and figured they were watching her from the windows. Jasper bared her fangs and snarled at them, all their heads snapping back in case Dr. Maheswaranh’s patient went on a rampage.

Dr. Maheswaranh nodded in approval at their reaction. “Very good.” She looked at a tire with a grin. “Throw the tire but this time aim for the forest and not the parking lot.”

Jasper got back to her feet and walked over to the tire. She lifted it with ease and twirled around on the spot a few times before letting it go. The quartz gem watched it fly farther than the previous tire with satisfaction. It disappeared into the forest and birds flew in a frenzy a few moments afterwards. “How far was that?”

“I don’t know,” Dr. Maheswaranh answered honestly. “But it was probably thrice as far as the first tire.”

“Probably?”

Dr. Maheswaranh hummed in agreement. “I’m not testing how strong you are, Jasper. I’m testing if you are getting stronger.” She turned to face the quartz gem. “We have no idea what your limits are. For all we know, you could be the strongest gem to ever exist so there’s no use to try to compare your abilities to others.”

The strongest gem? Jasper liked the thought, especially if it meant that she was stronger than Garnet. She looked at the track and then the doctor. “Do you want me to run again?”

“That would be appreciated, yes.”

Jasper glanced at Lion. “Do you want to have another race, pussy cat?”

Lion growled and shook his mane. He pawed the ground and him and Jasper walked to the track. The animal yawned and stretched before suddenly breaking into a sprint. Jasper gave a roar and went on all fours, following Lion. She caught up with the animal after a few minutes and hissed angrily at him. “That was cheating!”

As payback, she quickly flipped him off and ran past him. Jasper chuckled at the way Lion seemed abashed at the action and he almost tripped under his feet. Lion let out a roar and the smirk on Jasper’s face slipped when the animal appeared in front of her. The bastard was teleporting! Jasper roared and pushed herself harder, catching up and out pacing the lion. She turned her head to hiss at him but Lion teleported in front of her before she could.

“Stop cheating fucker!” Jasper growled.

Again and again, Jasper would outrun Lion and Lion would teleport in front of her. After five cycles of this, Lion miscalculated and teleported right in front of Jasper. Just like before, the quartz gem slammed into him and the two rolled to a violent stop. Jasper leapt away from him and hissed at him before getting up. Lion mewed and stayed where he was, panting heavily.

“That’s your fault,” Jasper said but she didn’t move away. When Lion didn’t try to get up, Jasper sighed and sat down next to him. Lion moved his head onto Jasper’s lap, his eyes watching Jasper in case she tried to shove him away again. Surprising the animal however, the quartz gem reached over and scratched behind his ears. “Dumbass lion,” she muttered as Lion began to purr.

Dr. Maheswaranh strolled over to the two. She hadn’t expected Jasper to allow Lion to touch her at all, let alone pet him. Jasper met her gaze with a look that clearly told the doctor not to tell this to anyone else. Dr. Maheswaranh nodded in understanding. “When both of you are ready, I would like to finish the check-up indoors.”

Lion yawned and pushed his head further in Jasper’s lap.

“Don’t push it,” Jasper warned.

Lion huffed and pushed himself back to his four paws. Jasper got up and the three walked back inside the hospital. They walked to the room where Jasper first woke up after going into a coma.

Before Lion could enter, Dr. Maheswaranh barred his way, only looking a little scared. “This part I want to conduct alone with Jasper.”

Lion looked at the human for a few moments before curling up in front of the doors. Dr. Maheswaranh nodded and closed the door behind her. “I need you to remove your clothing so I can inspect your physical body.”

Jasper was uncertain about this but she phased away her uniform. Dr. Maheswaranh showed no reaction to the naked gem in front of her. Her eyes roamed her flesh but there was no hunger in them, just professional concern. “You have more spots than before.”

“I almost reverted to my corrupted form.”

“What!?” Dr. Maheswaranh hurried over to press at some of the spots, trying to feel if any spikes were growing underneath the skin. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” she asked, her hands now opening Jasper’s eyes to see if they were more animalistic than normal.

“It was none of your business,” Jasper growled, jerking her head back when the doctor tried to grab her horns.

Dr. Maheswaranh frowned at the quartz gem. “None of my business? I am your doctor and you hurting is entirely my business!” She grabbed at Jasper’s hands and examined her claws. “Whether you like it or not, your health is now my concern and I need to know if you are reverting or seriously injured.”

Jasper rolled her eyes but didn’t stop the doctor form inspecting her other hand.

“Are you feeling any chronic pain?” Dr. Maheswaranh asked.

“No,” Jasper answered. From the way that the doctor was fidgeting with her claws, she knew that she wanted to ask something that may upset the quartz gem. “What?”

Dr. Maheswaranh sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “You can put your clothes back on.” Jasper phased back on her uniform and waited for the doctor to ask what was on her mind. “Because you are an adult as far as I am concerned and I am your doctor I must ask, are you sexually active?”

Jasper’s eyes widened. Doctors had authority to ask such a person question? She rubbed the back of her neck. “Not since I came to earth.” Now that she was thinking about it, Jasper realized she had been celibate for more than a year. Such a thought was very unpleasant for the quartz gem.

“Are you planning to become involved sexually with another?”

“Perhaps,” Jasper said. She didn’t know if her fantasies of establishing a relationship with Lapis and Peridot would ever become to fruition but she couldn’t see herself with any other. “Why do you want to know such things?”

Dr. Maheswaranh linked her fingers behind her in an effort to look more professional. “As I have stated, as your doctor your health is of my concern. I do not know how susceptible you are to human diseases or if gems can become diseased at all, but I do believe that I should inform you of some precautions if you decide to sexually active with anyone.” She turned and rummaged in one of the cabinets before grabbing a brochure. She handed it to Jasper and the quartz gem leafed through it, realizing that was for informing people of condoms and other contraception methods as well as STD’s.

“Gems can’t get human diseases,” Jasper said, flicking away the brochure.

“Maybe, you are not fully gem,” Dr. Maheswaranh countered, grabbing the brochure from the ground and placing it on the bed near Jasper. “Just read it and be safe, okay?”

Jasper grumbled but grabbed the paper. While she was reading it, Dr. Maheswaranh went through the notes that Alice had conveniently left for her on the counter. She nodded every once and a while, proud at how her pupil was faring with writing notes about a patient and how precise they were. Maybe one day Connie would become a doctor and Alice could mentor her. The thought brought a smile to Dr. Maheswaranh’s face. Once she was done, she looked over to see Jasper pocketing the brochure. “I have very good news. Based on your results from the physical examination, I can say that you have fully recovered from the coma but if there are any negative signs at all, I want you to immediately contact me.”

The quartz gem hummed, her mind still on the facts that the brochure held. Humans were truly a fragile race.

“I can also tell you that you are healthy enough to eat solid foods,” Dr. Maheswaranh finished.

“Solid foods?” Jasper repeated. She couldn’t believe her ears.  

Dr. Maheswaranh placed the notes back down and nodded. “Yes, you can now eat solid foods.”

“No more smoothies?” Jasper asked.

“No more smoothies,” Dr. Maheswaranh confirmed.

Jasper’s lips slowly lifted into a smile. No more of Pearl’s smoothies!


	15. Destiny's End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days? Hells yeah!

Jasper lifted a hand to scratch at an inch on her arm, leaning up when Lion squirmed behind her. Once the animal was settled, Jasper resumed using him as a back support. The last book of the Spirit Morph Saga was being held carefully in her other hand, the claws far away from the fragile pages. Her eyes greedily ate up the words on the pages, finally nearing the end. She glanced back to the beach house as laughter filtered out from the open door. Connie and Steven were watching some surgical show inside while the Crystal Gems were in their respective rooms. Jasper turned the page and began to read the last chapter of the series. She could hear Lion snore behind her but she ignored the animal as her eyes flashed from page to page, a scowl deepening with each page.

Jasper growled as she made a move to turn the page but there was nothing left. She closed the cover and turned her head to look at the neat pile of books next to her. Jasper picked each one up and read the spines, setting them down with care. She reopened the last book and reread the last chapter, disbelief settling on her face.

“That’s it?” she whispered to herself, bewildered. She held out the book and held it this way and that, as if by doing so a new chapter would magically appear. “That can’t be it,” Jasper growled. She slammed the book shut and turned her head to glare at the beach house.

Lion must have sensed Jasper’s growing anger because he woke up mid-snore. He looked at her blearily for a moment before starting to purr in an attempt to calm her down. When he tried to rub his head against Jasper’s gem, Jasper hissed at him. Lion reared his head back to stare at her for a moment, his eyes going to the book for a second. He grumbled and rested his head against his forepaws, knowing that he could do nothing to quell the storm developing in the quartz gem.

Jasper stood up and bellowed, “CONNIE!” the book clenched in her hand. She heard a crash from inside the house and figured that either Connie or Steven had fell off the bed in shock.

Connie ran out of the open the door, Rose’s sword grasped in her hand as her eyes roamed the beach, searching for whatever had caused this disturbance in Jasper. Steven followed closely behind, his mother’s shield gleaming in the sunlight as he rubbed a bright red splotch on his forehead.

“Get over here!” Jasper roared at Connie, raising her arm so Connie could see the book in her hand.

Connie’s eyes narrowed as she tried to read the book’s title. “Destiny’s End?” Realization dawned on her face as she figured out what had gotten Jasper so upset. “You read Destiny’s End!”

“How the” she clenched her teeth as she fought the urge to berate the human for reading such trash, “how can you read this garbage!?” Jasper slammed down the book into the sand, not caring that she exerted so much force that pages were ripped off and being carried away by the wind. She spat at the book as if the words had personally insulted her. “This is a disgrace! Even Dr. Seuss can write better endings than that pathetic excuse of an author!”

The sound of a sword clattering on the patio brought Jasper’s eyes back up. She watched Connie sprint down the stairs and run over to her. The human stopped in front of the book and kicked it. “It’s terrible!” She looked up with adoring stars in her eyes. “I’m so glad you think so too!”

Jasper ran a hand through her messy hair as she started to pace. She gestured wildly to the pristine stack of books next to the now awake Lion. “How can the series come to this!? It was full of fighting and war and death in the first three books!”

“I know right!” Connie yelled, almost jumping up and down in her excitement. “It had so much potential to write the best ending ever!”

“I can handle the fact that Archimicarus started to develop feelings for Lisa in the second book but at least they kept the fighting!” Jasper snarled at the remains of the last book. “But now they were just lovesick animals! It is a dishonor to Plinkman who sacrificed himself so Lisa could continue the rebellion. And that cake! How can you describe a stupid cake for fifty pages!? You eat it and then shit it out!” Jasper bent down to scoop up the remains of the book. The few pages remaining were barely held together by the snapped spine. She turned her body and chucked the book into the ocean, the novel crashing into the water a good thirty feet away. “Fuck you, author!” she roared.

Connie laughed and jumped up high, her arms in the air. “Yeah, fu-“

“Don’t,” Jasper snapped.

A frown was the response but at least Connie didn’t finish what she was going to say. Not that Jasper would truly care if the human swore, but she didn’t want another lecture from Pearl if the gem ever caught wind of the incident. “If I ever hear you talk about that accursed book, I will throw you out to sea myself.”

Instead of being afraid at the threat, Connie grinned and nodded. “Understood ma’am!” she said with a salute, causing Jasper to roll her eyes.

Now that Jasper had ranted and destroyed the offending novel, she was stable enough to feel that several people were watching her.

She turned her head to see that her yelling had caused the Crystal Gems to go outside and crowd around the patio, watching the two of them. Amethyst was currently on the floor, wheezing from laughing too hard and Pearl had her hands on her hips, a foot tapping rhythmically on the wooden floor. She opened her mouth to start chastising Jasper but a moment later groaned, “Forget it,” before heading back inside, dragging a still chuckling Amethyst behind her.

Steven leaned his chin against the railing and pouted at the spot where the book had landed into the ocean. “But I liked the ending,” he grumbled. He had hoped that Jasper would enjoy it too and they could bake the cake together.

Garnet smiled down at Steven and ruffled his hair with an approving nod. “That’s because you’re, Steven.” She looked down at Connie and Jasper and gave the two a thumb’s up.

“Even Garnet,” Steven whined, watching sulkily as the fusion went back inside the beach house.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extremely short chapter I know but this was originally at the end of the last chapter and I thought it made more sense as a stand-alone. I'll make it up to you the next chapter, I swear!


	16. Camp Pining Hears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long absence. A LOT of things suddenly came up and it really screwed with my life. I'm still dealing with all of it emotionally so the next chapter may be a long ways off. I'll try to get it up as soon as I can but the things that happened drained me completely and I'm trying to pick up the pieces.

Jasper panted heavily as she ran on all fours. She didn’t hold anything back, out in the country land nothing could stop her. The quartz gem glanced behind her and smirked at the cloud of dirt rushing up violently into the air as her feet and hands dug into the ground to push herself farther. Jasper let out a carefree laugh and jumped just in time over a rock jutting up from the ground. As she landed, a roar reached her ears and Lion appeared before her for only a second before he lagged behind. Jasper gave a pleased growl as she skirted around another rock.

She needed this. She needed to feel the ground give way under her hands and feet and the wind tug harshly at her hair. She needed the adrenaline rush through her body at every pound of her heart. But above all else, she needed to get away from the beach house and from that damn fusion’s smirk.

A frustrated snarl tore from Jasper’s throat as she abruptly stopped. Lion teleported a few feet in front of her and he quickly padded next to her before flopping down. Jasper sat and grunted when Lion laid his head in her lap to be petted. Jasper reached over to run her fingers through his mane when the sun made the bracelet adorning her wrist glint. Her eyes narrowed at the flashing green bulb, signaling that the tracking device was on. Pearl had insisted that Jasper wear the bracelet when she went out but Garnet had said it wouldn’t be necessary with that knowing smirk.

“Damn the fusion to whatever hell the humans believe in!” Jasper roared, slamming her fist into the ground. A cloud of debris burst from the floor and a crater was revealed when the quartz gem lifted her fist.

An agitated hiss brought Jasper’s attention to Lion. The animal glared at her for a moment and sneezed pointedly but he didn’t lift his head from her lap.

Jasper returned the hiss but scratched behind Lion’s right ear as a way of apologizing. “What does that fusion know?” she asked Lion, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Besides everything.”

Lion yawned as an answer and closed his eyes. His tail smacked against the ground once as if signaling that he no longer wished to be in the conversation. Soon, his breathing slowed and the pink animal was napping, his head still on Jasper’s lap.

The quartz gem gave a sigh and carefully shifted Lion’s head so it was laying on the ground. Lion whined almost like a dog and rolled over so he could rest his head on his forepaws.

Jasper got up and with a final glance at the slumbering creature, started to walk. She looked about her and on a sudden whim, turned so she was strolling to the east. The quartz gem continued in this direction, her heart quickening from reasons other than running. She knew that she might get in trouble for doing this but the idea had already taken root in her mind and bloomed into a deadly flower.

A building rose in the distance and the quartz gem’s pace hastened before her impulsive courage ran out or sense overtook her emotion. The barn looked no different than before but unlike before, Jasper’s body warmed instead of freezing in fear at the sight of the open doors. She took a deep breath and smiled at the recent scent of the water gem. Jasper looked up at the sound of people talking and saw that Peridot was there, watching television from the truck’s bed in the wall. The knowledge of seeing her in a similar situation when she first came to the barn struck her as odd. So many things were different now, Jasper being chief among them.

“Peridot,” she called up.

The gem technician jumped at the voice but quickly smiled when she saw Jasper looking up at her. Before Jasper could help her or even mention assisting her, Peridot jumped down from the truck’s bed. She landed with a thud and backpaddled for a few moments but she caught her balance. Peridot’s cheeks sported an emerald blush when she straightened her back. “Jasper, I haven’t seen you since the library.”

It was true. Once or twice, Steven had brought over Peridot to the beach house to show her his new comics but each time, Jasper slipped out before the green gem could see her. The quartz gem was still too confused about her feelings for the gem and seeing her would make them even more perplexing.

“I was busy,” Jasper grunted. She winced inside her mind at how Peridot’s eyes became a smidge downcast than before. The technician probably thought Jasper didn’t deem her worthy to say what she was doing. “I was reading the Spirit Morph Saga,” she explained.

Peridot cocked her head in bewilderment. “You read?” Jasper grunted an affirmative. “I thought jaspers were all too stupid to read.” A loud clap sounded as Peridot slapped her hand to her mouth but the words had already come out. “Wait, that’s not what I um- what I should have said was uh,” she trailed off, her hands holding on to one another and her eyes trained on the ground.

Jasper shook her head to show no harm was done. “It’s okay, I don’t think any jasper could read before me.” Her chest puffed up in pride. “I suppose that I am the strongest and smartest jasper now.” The quartz gem grinned at how Peridot’s eyes lifted from the ground and a small smile took place of that worried frown. Jasper looked behind Peridot into the barn. “Where’s Lapis?”

“She’s off with Steven,” Peridot answered, her voice cautious. “He wanted to show her his new comics and she wanted to give him some coupons she found in one of her magazines.”

 _So that’s why Steven was in such a hurry this morning,_ Jasper thought to herself. She could not deny the disappointment in her belly but it was overridden by curiosity at the sounds coming from the television on the truck. Jasper cocked her head as she heard two characters talk back and forth, something about a color war. “What is that?” she asked, nodding to the television set.

Peridot’s cheeks darkened as she answered. “It’s a show called Camp Pining Hearts.” She quieted for a moment to listen to the dialogue. “It’s the episode where Paulette tried to confess her feelings for Percy but they are on different sides of the color war so Percy says he doesn’t care for her but he does because when Paulette’s bracelet falls out of her boat in a canoe race, Percy abandons his team to save it and he almost kisses her but then his team comes and yells at him for costing them the race and uh-“ her cheeks grew darker. “It’s really good.”

Jasper didn’t understand half of what Peridot was saying, not that she was really paying attention. She was too distracted by the way the technician’s eyes lit up and how she had that cute little smile that reminded Jasper of a cat. “I want to watch it,” she said simply.

The shock Peridot felt was poorly hidden. “You do!?” She looked at the truck and then Jasper. “I think there’s just enough room for us to sit on the bed!” Peridot waited for a moment, staring at Jasper expectantly. When the quartz gem did nothing but meet her gaze, Peridot’s face flashed with realization. “Oh, um, I usually have Lapis fly me up to the truck.”

Before Peridot could say anything, Jasper bent down and picked her up with one arm. Immediately a fist slammed into Jasper’s arm on instinct but the quartz gem paid it no attention. Jasper leapt up and used the free hand to propel herself off of the barn’s wall and into the truck’s bed. The truck gave a warning whine and Peridot clung to Jasper’s arm, afraid that it would break and the two would plummet to the ground. But the truck stilled and Jasper sat down with Peridot still holding her arm. Peridot shakily let go and stood in the truck, her eyes still wide from the sudden jump.

“Who is that?” Jasper asked nonchalantly, smirking at how Peridot still had one hand on Jasper’s bicep in case the truck fell.

“T-that’s Percy.” Peridot sat down and took deep breathes. She watched the episode for a minute before carefully crawling to the television. For some reason, she could feel eyes on her backside but there was no way Jasper was looking at her like that. There just can’t be. Peridot pressed a button and the tape was ejected. She switched it with season one and hit play. “This way you won’t be lost,” she said back to Jasper. There was a light flush on the quartz gem’s cheeks but Peridot did not know why. Maybe she was really excited about the show, Peridot concluded, crawling back to her spot.

The two watched the show in relative silence, Peridot speaking up occasionally to explain something or point out something interesting. Jasper tried to focus on the television, truly she did, but the way Peridot was sitting so close to her, her scent clung to the quartz gem like a warm blanket. More than once Jasper’s mind wandered off to the green technician and most of the times, she had to end the thought suddenly lest she get too excited. Jasper took shallow breaths and glued her eyes to the screen, never taking any words or actions.

“That’s my otp.”

“What?” Jasper asked, my eyes finally seeing two characters talking.

“One true ship,” Peridot explained, resting her chin on her knees and looking at Jasper from the corner of her eyes. “Basically, I think Percy and Pierre should be in a relationship together.” She glanced back at the television and saw another character coming on the screen. “Lapis thinks Paulette and Percy should end up together but my ship is clearly superior.”

Jasper hummed, watching the three interact with one another. It was obvious that Percy had feelings for Paulette, especially by the way he was trying to subtly flex whenever she glanced at him. But there was something else too, the quartz gem noticed. Whenever Percy flexed, Pierre’s eyes would suddenly move to look at Percy, even if he was talking to Paulette. Paulette too, would look at Percy but at other times she would laugh at something Pierre said even if it wasn’t that funny which would cause Pierre to become flustered momentarily.

“What if they were together?” Jasper asked, continuing to watch the three.

“Who?”

“The three of them,” she nodded to them. “What if the three of them started a relationship? Percy and Paulette do flirt with one another but Pierre also seems to be another target of their affection.”

Peridot’s eyes widened and flashed back to the television. Her eyes greedily took in the show, noticing the things that Jasper observed. “The ultimate OTP,” she whispered to herself.

Jasper couldn’t help but chuckle at the hushed statement and found herself smiling at Peridot. She really was beautiful. The way her eyes lit up at watching the show, the way her lips tilted up at a certain scene, and especially the way she would sometimes glance at Jasper for seemingly no reason at all. How come she never noticed it before she came to this damnable planet? She should have staked her claim on Peridot when they were on that ship. Nobody would have known, possibly. Peridot laughed at something Percy had done and Jasper felt a ridiculous sting of jealousy. She shook her head as she continued to think about Peridot. She was also so generous. She left Lapis alone to her thoughts even though it plainly hurt her, she even invited Jasper to stay and watch some show with her despite there past.

“Why are you staring at me?”

The quartz gem almost jumped. She hadn’t realized she was watching Peridot for so long. “You have something on your bottom lip.”

Peridot blushed and crossed her eyes as if she could see something on her bottom lip. Jasper almost chuckled but she held it down lest Peridot thought she was making fun of her. Peridot swiped at her lip with her thumb and Jasper desperately wished that it was her thumb on the technician’s lips.

A frustrated whine clogged Jasper’s throat but luckily the television drowned it out. Was she wishing for too much?

The sound of flapping wings brought both Jasper’s attention to the horizon. Jasper narrowed her eyes and could just make out a blue dot in the sky flying towards them. Soon, the dot became a small Lapis that grew bigger with each flap of her wings. “Lapis is coming back,” she said to Peridot.

Peridot leaned over the side of the truck, her eyes scanning the area this way and that. “I don’t see her.”

“I have better vision,” Jasper said, watching Lapis glide towards the barn. She looked down at Peridot with a grin. “I say she’ll be here within a few minutes.”

Peridot pouted at the fact that Jasper was able to spot Lapis first but soon the pout turned into a smile. “Good, her favorite episode is coming on next.”

Jasper and Peridot waited patiently in the bed of the truck, absentmindedly watching the show. Lapis did arrive at the barn within four minutes and her face showed the shock she must have felt when she saw Jasper lounging in the bed of the truck, watching Camp Pining Hearts with Peridot.

“Hi, Lapis!” Peridot called out, waving wildly, very nearly falling out of the truck but Jasper would have made sure that wouldn’t happen.

“Lion came to the temple without you,” Lapis said, giving a nod to Peridot. She hovered in front of the truck as she talked. “Everyone was wondering where you went off to.”

Jasper groaned and stood up, the truck giving an ominous creak but staying put. “I better head back before they send out the search parties.” She didn’t want to begin to think about what Pearl would do if she didn’t show up in a timely order. The quartz gem would probably have to endure a lecture for days.

“There’s no need,” Lapis said, her eyes still on the truck in case it fell and she had to save the two. “You’re here and they trust you to head back when you want.”

“Really?” Jasper was pleasantly surprised. She sat back down and watched Lapis hover for a few more moments before looking back at the television. For some reason, Jasper knew she couldn’t look at Lapis longer lest she grew aroused. She was weak for the two gems and it wouldn’t do if they knew. They would have most likely reject her anyway.

Peridot gave a joyful sound that sounded almost like a squeal and set about switching the VCR’s. “Hey Lapis, guess what Jasper thought of.” She didn’t wait for the water gem to respond. “She came up with the ultimate OTP between Percy, Paulette, and Pierre!”

“The three of them?” Lapis asked in confusion, her eyebrows furrowed. “That wouldn’t work out.”

“No,” Peridot argued, pausing the show so she could answer Lapis. “It would take more work but together, the three could rule the camp! Percy with his water abilities, Paulette with her superior arts and crafts, and Pierre with his friendship bracelets of love!”

Lapis hummed as she tried to picture it and her eyes widened at the conclusion she made. Why hadn’t the two of them think of this before!? It makes so much sense with its simplicity. Lapis eyed the episode that was paused, excitement grew in her. “Hey, can you move over for a sec, Peridot?”

Peridot seemed confused for a moment but did as she was asked. She scooted closer to Jasper and the shortened distance did disastrous things to her heart. The quartz gem gulped and focused harder on the television show, even though it was currently paused on the show’s logo. She was mildly aware of Lapis settling down on the furthest edge of the bed, the three of them squashed together.

“Actually, Peridot, can you come here?”

Jasper heard Peridot take a breath, this one trembling a bit at the end. The quartz gem felt colder and she sneaked a peek to her side, regretting it instantly. Apparently, Lapis knew that the truck’s bed was too small for the three so she had Peridot sit in her lap. The two looked like it was the most natural thing in the world, Lapis’s head resting on Peridot’s right shoulder and an arm wrapped securely around her waist. The two made quite a sight. Jasper shifted and felt the heat rise in her. The water gem was going to kill her.

Lapis reached over and pressed play and the three watched the show, or rather Jasper stared at the screen with the other two actually watching. Her heart pound and she fought against the arousal building steadily. Jasper just managed to keep her tentacle sheathed but she couldn’t still her thundering heart. She glanced back at the two and could have sworn that she saw Lapis kiss the junction between Peridot’s neck and shoulder.

“I have to go,” Jasper said suddenly, cursing her cowardice. Before the two could argue, she jumped down and landed his feet. The two gems’ calls for Jasper to come back fell on deaf ears as the quartz gem ran back to the temple. She knew that Lapis could have easily caught up to her if she flew but the water gem respected her sudden wish to leave.

It wasn’t long until Jasper was bounding up the steps of the beach house. If her mind wasn’t so full, she would have been impressed at the speed she was able to maintain during her run. Jasper opened the door and was insulted by an assortment of foul smells from the kitchen. She held her nose and glared at the cause of this terrible stench.

Amethyst looked at Jasper, the sandwich she had just made held carefully in her hands. It threatened to melt and break in her grip. Jasper could not tell what the sandwich was made with but she did know that it was doused in motor oil to the point that it looked like Amethyst was holding a blob of black gunk. Amethyst smiled and lifted her sandwich in a form of a toast and taking a bite from it.

“Jasper?”

The quartz gem turned her head to face the person who called her name. Garnet tilted her head like she didn’t understand why Jasper was here.

Jasper was quick to replace her shame with glee that she finally seemed to shock the fusion. “You don’t know everything after all,” she declared smugly.

Garnet frowned and pushed her visors up. She sighed with a shake of her head. “No, I never claimed that I do. I simply see the endless possibilities that one can take.” Garnet turned her head to look outside, her arms crossed, as if she was trying to see something through the windows into the ocean.

“Sounds like knowing everything,” Amethyst said through the mouthful of food.

“I try to cancel most of the rivers out if I can,” Garnet replied. She looked back at Jasper. “I did, however, see this possible outcome.” She made her way to the temple’s door. Garnet showed her palms and it opened with ease. “Oh and Jasper,”

The quartz gem looked at the back of the fusion, only slightly irritated that Garnet didn’t turn her head to look at her properly.

“listen to what she has to say.” Garnet entered the temple and the doors slid shut without a sound.

“What was that about, sis?” Amethyst asked, taking her last bite of her sandwich.

Jasper simply shook her head in reply and laid down on the couch. Today’s events made her exhausted and she could do with a very long nap. Hopefully, her dreams would be peaceful and not filled with lust and the two gems she left at the barn. Jasper tried to get comfortable but found something was amiss. She eyed the table and reached over to grab the book with the orange leaf hidden within its pages and the stuffed alien. The quartz gem held them close to her chest and almost like a spell was thrown over her, her eyes closed and she fell into a deep slumber.


	17. New Chances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, short chapter I know but I thought I should publish something now because the next few days are going to be very hectic. I hope you guys enjoy!

Jasper watched as Connie walked away from her spot on the beach. She held the book that the human girl had given her, something called manga. The quartz gem looked down at the cover and grinned at the main character glaring at the reader while holding a rather large sword. Connie had assured her that there was a lot of fighting in this serious, even more than the Spirit Morph Saga.

They had just ended their reading session that had taken place outside the temple since Lion had decided to take a nap on Jasper’s couch. Connie was surprised at how Jasper only shrugged and told her that she wanted to get outside anyway. Jasper could now read without any trouble and had been able to do so for a month now but the two continued to meet. Connie no longer had the quartz gem read aloud, but rather she gave a list to Jasper of books to find in the library. Connie would come over with her own copy of the book and the two would read silently together. 

“Which one is that?”

Jasper tilted her head to look at Pearl as she answered. “Bleach. I haven’t started it yet.” She set down the manga and reached over to grab some of the salt crackers she had brought out for her and Connie to share. Jasper plopped one into her mouth and shrugged. “She wanted me to read a couple of chapters so I could catch up to her.”

Pearl nodded to show she understood and sat down delicately by Jasper. She made a face when Jasper ate another cracker but didn’t say anything.

The quartz gem didn’t know how to interact with Pearl besides growling and swearing to get her riled up so she just continued to eat the crackers. Jasper realized that she hadn’t done anything to intentionally anger Pearl for a few weeks. Maybe she could leave some dirty dishes on the table. Or perhaps help Amethyst put some of the trash from her room into Pearl’s. The thought made Jasper grin and she ate another cracker, imaging the look on Pearl’s face.

Jasper turned her head to say something to Pearl but her eyes caught movement on the horizon. She could barely make out Lapis and her heart instantly began to beat faster. The quartz gem had not seen or heard anything from Lapis or Peridot since the Camp Pining Hearts marathon two weeks ago.

Pearl looked to where Jasper was staring so intently and she couldn’t see anything. A part of her didn’t like that Jasper could sense things before her but she had gotten used to the feeling with Garnet. Pearl waited patiently for whatever caught Jasper’s attention to come into her view. Eventually, she could see Lapis fly towards them but something was off. As Lapis flew closer, Pearl’s suspicions were confirmed. The water gem’s body was a dull blue. Something had happened recently.

“You should go,” Jasper told Pearl. She had noticed Lapis’s coloration long before Pearl and she knew that it had something to do with her. Jasper also knew that whatever Lapis wanted to talk about was not meant for Pearl’s ears.

Pearl looked up at Jasper with something like offense but she nodded anyway. “Okay, but let us know if something occurs.” She got up and walked back to the temple but she stood behind a window that gave her a nice view of Jasper. Pearl trusted Jasper more than she had ever had in the past but she still wasn’t sure if seeing Lapis alone was a good idea.

Jasper stood as Lapis neared, trying to think up of something to say but finding nothing. She gulped when Lapis landed a few feet away from her, worry eating at her stomach. Lapis looked as bad as the time Jasper had saw her on Mask Island. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Lapis sighed and held onto her arms for some comfort. She should have known that Jasper wouldn’t try to beat around the bush. A part of her was grateful but another part wanted to evade the question. She sat down and Jasper joined her, taking a few moments to collect her thoughts. Jasper let her have all the time she needed, she thought she knew what they were about to talk about and she tried to keep calm.

“Me and Peridot got into a huge fight when you left,” Lapis finally said, looking out into the ocean. “It kept getting worse and worse until I had to leave the barn.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Jasper was shocked to realize she really was sorry. If it had been anyone else, she wouldn’t have cared. But she didn’t like the idea of Peridot and Lapis fighting. “Was it about me?”

Lapis nodded with a grimace. “Peridot didn’t like that I made her sit in my lap or that kiss,” she explained. She turned her head to look at Jasper. “We know that you left because of it.”

“Your relationship is not my business,” Jasper said. She shrugged like it didn’t bother her but it did. Immensely. The quartz gem could read the conflict in Lapis’s eyes and knew that the water gem was debating whether or not to continue the conversation.

Finally after a minute of tense silence, Lapis released an irritated sigh and gripped at her hair. Jasper wanted to pull her hands away in case Lapis accidently hurt herself but she refrained from doing so, not knowing if she was allowed to touch her. “It is your business, Jasper! Don’t you get that!?” Lapis yelled in frustration. Afterwards though, Lapis deflated and rested her chin on her crossed arms. “But you probably don’t see it, do you?”

“See what?” Jasper was confused and didn’t like it. Supposedly she should have known something but she can’t figure out what. What had she missed?

Lapis groaned and stood up abruptly, like she couldn’t stand staying still. She paced back and forth, reminding Jasper of Peridot. Lapis turned around to face Jasper and the conflict was back on her face. “It is our relationship but,” she hesitated, “something’s missing. We are happy together and she makes me happy and she says I make her happy but now it’s different.”

Jasper still didn’t understand. “What happened to make it so different?”

Lapis gestured to her widely like she couldn’t believe Jasper didn’t figure it out yet. “You happened! You’re back and you’re,” she glanced away for a moment, “you’re trying to be good.”

“Not really,” Jasper argued. “I just don’t want to go back to that bubble or the other place.” Both of them knew that Jasper was referring to the corrupted state of mind. She rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m not trying to shatter the Crystal Gems or Steven but I’m also not running around declaring my love for earth.”

“You are different,” Lapis said, shocked that Jasper apparently didn’t know how much she had changed. “You’re doing things unheard of for jaspers!” She picked up the manga that Jasper had set down. “You’re reading and learning to coexist with humans, with Steven.” Lapis put the manga down and brushed her bangs from her face. “It’s weird for me and Peridot to see and its making us think about,” her eyes turned downcast and she turned her head so Jasper couldn’t see her face clearly, “about stuff we know we shouldn’t.” She took a deep breath and said it all in one go. “Peridot and I are starting to develop feelings for you and we don’t know what to do. We know it’s completely fucked up, given our collective history but,” Lapis hesitated for a long time but managed to get it out, “we can’t stop.”

Jasper sat there, staring at Lapis, her words slowly being processed in her head. So Lapis and Peridot liked her and she knew by now that denying her feelings for them was useless. But a part of her was terrified. Everything was being presented right in front of her and Jasper wanted to take it so bad but what if she screwed things up? What if she wasn’t good enough for them? “What do you want from me?” she asked. She laid a hand on Lapis’s shoulder and the water gem looked up at her. Jasper didn’t remove the hand.

Lapis looked at the hand and then up into Jasper’s eyes. “You know what I want.” It occurred to Lapis that this might be the most truthful she had ever been to Jasper. This vulnerable. 

Jasper must have seen the vulnerability because she shrugged with a grin. “Maybe I don’t. Apparently jaspers are supposed to be really stupid.”

The sudden bout of laughter that came from Lapis surprised both of them. She covered her mouth with her hand like she could keep in the laughs but failed miserably. “Peridot told me about that,” she told Jasper between chuckles. “She was mortified that you would hate her or at least stop talking to her.”

“I don’t want to do that,” was all Jasper had to say. She looked out into the ocean, letting Lapis have the privacy she needed to get herself together. Once the laughter subsided, Jasper surprised the ocean gem by pulling her close until their sides were pressed together.

Lapis’s eyes widened at the sudden move but didn’t pull away. Her lips slowly curled up into a smile as she rested her head against Jasper’s arm. She had no idea Jasper was so warm. It was nice.

Jasper was relieved that Lapis didn’t try to hit her or yell at her for touching her like this. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “This is really fucked up.”

“Yeah,” Lapis whispered, not willing to let reality creep up on them. She knew that if they were truly objective about this situation, they would never let it get this far. Lapis looked down at her hands, ones that she used to trap Jasper for so long, and then at the ocean. “Do you want to know why I like the ocean so much?” Lapis had no idea why she asked such a question but when Jasper gave a grunt, she answered. “From here you’d think that the ocean was just some boring thing. Water coming in and going out, maybe a wave or two or even a fish, but that’s it.” She smiled and pointed out at the horizon. “But if you’re willing to go far enough and dive deep enough, it’s like you’re not on earth anymore. There are so many beautiful and strange things hiding there. You just have to be patient enough to find them.”

Jasper looked down at Lapis and nodded. “Kind of like Peridot. The gem is so small but she can be so loud and bossy.”

Lapis laughed and snuggled closer to Jasper. “She can be quite the force to reckon with.” She looked up at Jasper with a grin. “Sounds a lot like someone I know.” Her eyes dimmed a moment later and she hid her face in Jasper’s arm. “Before, what we had wasn’t healthy at all and we’re both to blame but I want to try something.” Lapis lifted her head and before Jasper could respond, threw herself at the quartz gem, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pressing their lips together.

Jasper yelped at the kiss but quickly found herself melting into it. She held Lapis to herself like she was as fragile as the leaf she had given her. Jasper deepened the kiss and groaned as Lapis allowed access to her mouth. She didn’t want to stop the kiss but she needed to breathe now. Jasper broke the kiss and pressed their foreheads together, a hand cupping Lapis’s cheek. She really was so small compared to the quartz gem, her entire head fit into her palm.

Just as sudden as the kiss, Lapis jerked away from Jasper’s touch. Jasper let go of the water gem, immediately wondering what she had done wrong. “Peridot,” Lapis whispered, her face filled with shame.

Jasper saw the walls coming up again and she cupped her cheek again. “Don’t worry,” she said, desperately trying to find the right words. “You said Peridot had feelings for me too, right?” Lapis nodded, still looking like she had done something she shouldn’t have. That look made Jasper’s chest ache, like Lapis had personally wounded her. “Then she will understand.”

Lapis covered Jasper’s hand with her own for a moment and turned her head to kiss the quartz gem’s palm. She let go and stood up, looking down at Jasper, even sitting down Jasper’s head came up to her chest. “I’m sorry.” Lapis’s wings sprung out of her gem and she flew away, leaving behind a confused and hurt Jasper.

She’s sorry? Jasper watched her fly away in the direction of the barn. Was she sorry for that kiss, or her feelings? Jasper got up slowly and headed up to the temple, unsure of what she was doing. She wanted to ask Lapis what she was apologizing for but she was afraid of the answer. Jasper shouldn’t have kissed her back. It was her fault.

Jasper entered the beach house with the intent of taking a very long nap but the sight inside made her stop in the doorway, the handle still in her hand. Amethyst and Pearl had their hands on Garnet’s arms, trying to drag her back and Lion trying to push the fusion back from the front. Despite their efforts, Garnet was still gaining ground and taking purposeful strides towards the quartz gem. Jasper was suddenly glad that Steven was out at the arcade with his father. The fusion, with Amethyst still clinging onto her arm, grabbed Jasper by her right horn and with a grunt, threw her outside. With a click, Garnet locked the quartz gem out.

Jasper gave a snarl, more on instinct than actual emotion. She got up and went back to the door. Jasper lowered her head, her horns pointing directly at the screen door. She knew it was overkill but she had done nothing to warrant this.

Garnet lowered her visors so that Jasper could see all three of her eyes. “Fix it,” she said.

The two stayed in that stance for a while. Amethyst, Pearl, and Lion stood on the side, waiting to see what would happen. After a minute, Jasper straightened her back and gave a roar, this one having the frustration she felt fueling it. “Why does everyone want something from me!?” She bared her teeth and hissed angrily at Garnet before turning and walking down the steps. Jasper tried to ignore the terrible knots tightening in her stomach as she began her walk to the barn and Lapis and Peridot.

 


	18. Chapter 18

How many times have Jasper stood outside of the barn’s doors now, the fear making her feet heavy as lead? Three, four? Jasper shook her head and growled at herself. She could do this. She knew how they felt and she as hell knew how she felt. So why couldn’t she talk to them?

Jasper was at a loss of answers and almost jumped at the sound of something crashing on the floor coming from within the barn. She didn’t know what it was but she doubted it was good. The quartz gem took a deep breath and raised a fist to knock on the wooden door. “I need to speak with you, Lapis.” Another crash, this time followed closely by a yelp from Peridot. Did she fall? Was she hurt?

The door creaked open wide enough for a green eye to glare up at Jasper’s face but she couldn’t meet her eyes. “Lapis doesn’t want to speak with you so kindly leave,” Peridot said, her voice barely rising above a whisper.

Peridot tried to close the door on Jasper but the quartz gem was too quick. She grabbed the frame and threw it to the side. Luckily, she caught Peridot by surprise or else the technician could have used the nails in the door to slam it shut. Jasper bent down and grabbed Peridot by the nape of her uniform. She ignored the string of yells and punches at her arm and chest. Jasper didn’t keep track of the different types of clods she was called. “I need to talk to you too,” Jasper said.

Jasper entered the barn and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Lapis sitting in front of the fish tank wall, her chin resting on her knees and her arms wrapped securely around her legs. At least she wasn’t trying to hide from her, there was no way she didn’t hear Peridot’s stream of insults. Jasper looked down at the still struggling Peridot and set her gently down on the ground.

The green gem looked up at Jasper and then forward like she didn’t know what to do about Jasper’s act of gentleness. Once she broke out of her stupor however, Peridot turned and scrambled to Lapis. Peridot opened her mouth to tell the water gem something but closed it as no words came out. She settled on facing Lapis but looking at Jasper.

Jasper gathered her courage, what little she had right now, and marched towards the two gems. She lifted a hand to touch Lapis and saw Lapis’s eyes lift up to meet hers in the tank’s reflection.

“Go away,” Lapis muttered, lowering her eyes again. She jumped in shock when she heard Jasper settle next to her.

“No,” Jasper said. She groaned and ran a hand through her hair. “I messed things up and I need to fix it.” Because I want to and not because the fusion told me to, she reassured herself.

Lapis’s head jerked up to look at Jasper’s face. “ _You_ messed up?” she asked incredibly. Her shoulders suddenly shook with laughter. Even Peridot looked a little unnerve at the bout of chuckles. Lapis pressed a hand on her forehead and shook her head as if she couldn’t believe what Jasper just said. “I’m the one that kissed you!”

“You two kissed!?” Peridot squeaked, her cheeks quickly turning the darkest shade of green Jasper had ever seen on the technician.

Despite herself, Jasper thought that Peridot looked lovely blushing that deep. Jasper felt herself flush at how easily she was distracted by the green gem and nodded. She rubbed the back of her neck and watched the floating alien in the fish tank to stall for a bit and find words to make everything better. When she came up empty, Jasper growled in frustration. “I’m not good at this.”

“You’re not good at a lot of things,” Lapis muttered.

Jasper chuckled and shrugged. “I never claimed to be good at many things. Just fighting and we all know how that ended,” she sighed. She looked at Lapis, the gem that held her prisoner for so long under the crushing pressure of the entire ocean. She had abused Jasper, beaten her countless times and even broke something in her, something that might still be broken now. She showed Jasper that was not the strongest gem after all, just a lowly earthling creature that was groomed to fight and fail. Jasper’s eyes traveled to Peridot. She was supposed to be her escort, simply watch over her as she checked up on the cluster and ensure earth’s destruction. She was the one to poof her, to force a metal rod through her body. But despite all of that, Jasper still wanted them and wanted them to want her too.

After a long minute of silence, Jasper spoke. “I don’t know if I can be the gem that the two of you deserve.”

Peridot’s blush that was just now ebbing away came back in full force. “What do you mean by that?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

Realization caused Peridot’s eyes to bulge out and her to shout at Lapis. “You told her!? I thought we agreed that we were both insane for wanting her!”

Lapis winced at the shriek and glance up at Peridot before looking back at the fish. “We are insane but I never promised that I wouldn’t tell Jasper. She deserves to know the truth and it’s not like she doesn’t feel the same way about us.”

This time Peridot stared at Jasper. “You do?”

Jasper wanted to growl at the insecurity in Peridot’s voice. “Yes, I do,” she answered. “I don’t know why I do but I know what my feelings are for you two.” She looked down at Lapis and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Look at me,” she said as gently as she could. Lapis slowly turned her head and did as Jasper asked. “I don’t know if this will work forever but I will try if you’re willing to.” With that, she leaned down and kissed Lapis. She could almost feel Lapis’s resolve melting as the water gem kissed back. The quartz gem couldn’t keep the possessive growl from leaving her mouth and deepened the kiss when Lapis whimpered. Jasper opened her eyes slightly and saw that Peridot was staring at them slack jawed. The technician met Jasper’s eyes and gulped before turning around to walk away. Jasper felt sharp disappointment in her stomach, she didn’t want Peridot to leave just because she and Lapis were kissing.

Lapis must have noticed the change in the kiss because she broke it to look at Peridot’s retreating form. “Peri, wait.”

Jasper could have sworn that Peridot shudder at the nickname. She could feel the primal hunger rage within her at the thought of making Peridot shudder for _her_.

“Come here,” Lapis beckoned, desire obvious in her eyes.

Peridot turned back and walked to Lapis, not able to look at Jasper. She played with her fingers and gave a nervous cough. “Yes?”

Lapis only smirked at the bashfulness and pulled Peridot into a kiss. Peridot shuddered again and practically moaned when Lapis lifted a hand to cup her cheek. Lapis broke this kiss too and smiled up at Peridot. “You don’t have to go, you know.”

Peridot could only nod, unable to find words like Jasper. She looked at the quartz gem and licked her lips, conflicted if she was allowed to kiss her or not. Luckily, Jasper made the decision for her. Jasper scooped up Peridot and held her close, not bothering to start out slow. She took a quick nip at Peridot’s bottom lip and took advantage of the gasp, slipping her tongue into her mouth. Jasper growled at Peridot’s whimper and cupped her butt. She could feel her instincts start to kick in. They wanted her, she should show them that she wanted them too. Jasper growled low in her throat as she laid Peridot back down, her hand starting to knead the flesh. Peridot gasped at the sudden escalation but she didn’t try to stop the hand wandering down to cup in between her legs. She let out a long, desperate whine as her hips jerked up to grind against the hand. “Jasper, please,” she moaned.

Jasper shuddered at the hand touching her back and the blue eyes watching her and Peridot so intently. She should show Lapis how much she liked her too. The quartz gem broke the kiss and pulled Lapis closer so that she could kiss the water gem.

With Peridot’s mouth no longer occupied, the technician could finally think. A little. She shook her head to clear it a bit more and watched the two kiss without any shame. Peridot did not know whether she should feel jealous at them kissing but the hand rubbing in between her legs was certainly taking her mind off of it. She let out a whimper and two sets of eyes opened to look at her. The technician blushed but managed to scoot up so Jasper’s hand wasn’t pressed against her. “Wait, you two.” Jasper and Lapis stopped kissing to pay attention to Peridot. “We’re doing this wrong.”

Lapis narrowed her eyes in confusion. “Isn’t there no right way to do this?” She did pull away from Jasper to stop herself from getting distracted again. “I mean, three different gems being together like this is already so strange.”

Peridot nodded and tried to look as serious as she could, while ignoring the heat in between her legs. “Yes, but we need to have a proper date.”

“Proper date?” Jasper didn’t really want to stop what they were doing but if it made Peridot more comfortable then she would at least listen to what she had to say.

“Yes, Jasper. Humans court one another through dates before,” Peridot’s cheeks burned and she left the rest unsaid. “Anyway, we live on earth now so we should abide to its customs.” Her eyes became bright with excitement. “We’ll have an entire day for this proper date! First we can go to the Big Donut for the coffee date, then to Funland for a fun afternoon date outside, and then have a romantic dinner at Fishstew pizza!”

Jasper was not sure if humans were supposed to have three consecutive dates all in one day but she did not want to dim the light in Peridot’s eyes. She glanced at Lapis and saw that the water gem had reached to the same conclusion. “Fine,” she grunted. They better continue this activity once they came back from Fishstew pizza. Another glance and Jasper saw Lapis was thinking the same thing. Jasper got up on her feet, knowing that if she spent too much time here, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from at least trying to touch the two. “I suppose I will see you tomorrow.” Lapis and Peridot nodded and watched Jasper take a few steps towards the doors before walking back to them. Jasper bent down and gave the two a swift kiss, smirking at Peridot’s mewl, before finally heading back to the temple.

She had a date! Or rather three dates. Jasper didn’t really understand what a date was but it meant spending time with the two gems which was enough for her. Jasper could see the temple and frowned at the sight of Garnet leaning against the rail, apparently waiting for the quartz gem to return. She went up the steps, not giving her the satisfaction of acknowledging her. Jasper opened the door and was about to go inside to take a nap when Garnet spoke up.

“Remember to bring the money tomorrow,” Garnet said with a smirk.

“Shut up, fusion” Jasper growled but there was no real anger behind the words.


	19. The Big Date(s)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I know my most recent chapters were a little on the short end but I wanted to make it up to you all with this longer-than-usual chapter! I hope you enjoy :)

Jasper checked the pocket of her sweatpants what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. She felt the wad of money and sighed in relief. The clothes felt too restricting but she couldn’t phase on her uniform. A dark flush spread over Jasper’s cheeks as she recalled her session in the bathroom ten minutes prior. Her indulgence was only to make sure she didn’t have any inappropriate daydreams during her dates, or at least that was what she told herself. The quartz gem glanced at the alarm clock and read that it was almost ten in the morning.

            “Might as well go now,” she grunted, getting off the couch and heading out of the beach house before the fusion could say anything to sour her mood. A tug at her sweatpants made Jasper look down at a purring Lion. “No, Lion,” she said sternly. She pointed at her couch. “Stay.” Lion switched back and forth from looking at the couch longingly and looking at Jasper pleadingly. Luckily, Lion decided that a nap was better than following Jasper around during her dates. He curled up on the cushions and rested his head on one of the armrests to sleep. Jasper nodded in approval and left the beach house. She let the door slap shut behind her and stopped before she could put one foot on the stairs.

Peridot and Lapis were already at the foot of the stairs. Lapis was bent down trying to pry Peridot’s fussing hands away from her red bowtie. The quartz gem noticed that Lapis had on a bracelet with the words “Empire City” spelled out in little cubes. Jasper heard something about her needing to be impressed from Peridot but the green gem relented from abusing her bowtie any longer. Jasper grinned despite herself, the two had dressed up for her. The quartz gem suddenly felt the need to do something with her hair, maybe put it in a ponytail. But it was too late now, Peridot had already spotted her.

“Hey, Jasper!” Peridot called out, waving up to the striped gem. She reached up to fuss at her tie once more but Lapis lightly slapped the hands away.

Jasper walked down the steps and smirked at the two gems. “Shall we go?” she purred, trying to hide how unprepared she felt at the moment.

They nodded and began to walk towards the Big Donut. Peridot took up most of the conversation, pointing out different human contraptions and saying what they were used for. Lapis and Jasper simply listened to the green gem go on like she lived on earth for thousands of years. Jasper was just glad not to have the spotlight on her, she didn’t know what to say or do on dates. Perhaps she should have asked Connie, or maybe even Steven.

The three arrived at the Big Donut right as it was opening. Jasper held the door for the two and did her best not to stare at them like a fool when they went inside. She followed them inside and nodded a greeting to the humans behind the counter. Jasper looked over the menu with a serious frown. Now that she could actually eat solid food, Jasper didn’t know what she wanted to try first.

“Hey, uh,” Sadie spoke up, unsure if Jasper was okay to be around without Steven to rein her in, “Steven said he wanted to be the one to buy you your first donut.” She shrugged like it was no big deal but the way Steven talked about it made it seem like he was taking Jasper to the moon. Sadie wasn’t going to stop Jasper from buying one but at least she could say she told her about Steven’s plan.

Jasper was surprised to hear about Steven’s wish. She looked back at the menu and then at Lars. “I want to order a large banana smoothie with extra bananas. And whatever they want as well,” she nodded towards Lapis and Peridot.

Lars nodded eagerly and set about making Jasper her smoothie. Lapis and Peridot ordered a chocolate donut each and Jasper paid. Sadie took the money with a somewhat shocked expression on her face which made Jasper a little irritated. She wasn’t that stupid to think everything was free. Lars finished making her smoothie and gave it to Jasper. “Chug!” he cheered.

“I’d rather not clean up another mess,” Sadie muttered to him. Peridot’s laughter almost drowned out Sadie’s whisper but Jasper still heard her.

“Lighten up, Sadie!” Lars replied, not trying to keep his voice low. “It’s awesome she can chug so much and so what if it makes a little mess? We’ll clean it up, no problem.”

Sadie’s eyes narrowed and she poked him hard in the chest. “You mean _I_ will clean it up. You never help clean the messes you cause.”

“I cause!?”

Jasper glanced at Lapis who only looked up at Jasper confused.

“It’s a long story,” Jasper explained, taking a sip from her smoothie. The three exited out of the Big Donut, leaving behind an arguing Sadie and Lars. Jasper was just glad that Peridot was too busy laughing to explain what had happened to Lapis. The thought of Lapis thinking that Jasper was weak because she couldn’t handle a few smoothies turned her stomach into stone.

Lapis ate her donut and licked her finger clean of the chocolate frosting. Jasper almost growled at the sight and quickly moved her gaze forward. Lapis almost frowned at how Jasper’s eyes flew away from her. Did she do something wrong? “It’s really nice of you not to buy a donut just because Steven wanted to get you your first one.”

“Maybe I wanted a smoothie instead of a donut.” Jasper took another drink and tried not to grin at how Lapis’s smile made her feel warm. She was a quartz gem, not some lovesick puppy, Jasper reminded herself.

“I disagree,” Peridot spoke up, swallowing the last of her own donut. She didn’t really like eating food, but the proper date required her to consume something sweet and or filling. “Donuts are far superior when compared to a simple smoothie. They usually have frosting on top and come in a much more variety than smoothies.”

Jasper grunted, feeling a twinge of desire running down her back at Peridot’s smirk and bowtie. She glanced at Lapis and saw that the water gem had a similar reaction, lust darkening her eyes to royal blue. The quartz gem took a gulp of her smoothie to cool herself.

Fortunately, the sign for Funland greeted them before long. They entered the park and took a moment to decide which attraction they should visit. “Where do you two want to go first?” Jasper asked. She didn’t want to go anywhere near the distorted mirrors so she tactfully stood in between the group and the Whacky Mirrors building.

Her plan, however, proved to be futile as Peridot looked past her to the building. “Ugh,” she said with a disgusted face, “anywhere but there. Steven and Amethyst took me there once and it gave me a headache.” She stuck her tongue out at the building and turned her back on it.

Lapis raised an eyebrow at the two gems’ peculiar behavior but she didn’t comment on it. She learned from the first week of living with Peridot that it was best to let these things slide. The water gem pointed at the back end of the amusement park where most of the game stalls were held. “We can try going on the new roller coaster.”

Peridot frowned but nodded in agreement. “As long as I am not too short there shouldn’t be any problem.” Jasper just grunted in agreement.

The three made their way to the roller coaster, Peridot talking about her adventures here along the way. Jasper and Lapis mostly listened rather than talk but they were more comfortable that way. Jasper noticed that Lapis and Peridot were grinning more often than not and the quartz gem wanted to keep it that way. They were beautiful when they smiled.

“Hiya!”

Jasper’s attention was pulled from how Peridot would chew on her finger when she was thinking of something to say to Mr. Smiley. He smiled at them as he leaned against the control console for the roller coaster. “I remember you, kid!” he laughed at Peridot. “You won that space thing, although now to think of it there should have been no way you could have won it,” he muttered to himself at the end.

“Hey, I won it fair and square!” Peridot exclaimed. She looked like she wanted to kick the man but she held herself back. Jasper was not sure if she would try to stop the green gem if she tried anything.

“Don’t you mean fair and triangle?” Even Mr. Smiley stopped laughing as he processed his own joke. “Well uh, anyway you know the rules short stack.” He patted a strange cutout of a dog holding a sign saying “You must be this tall to ride!” “You haven’t grown much since I lost saw you so you can’t get on.” He looked at Jasper and grinned at her. “And you’re too tall to get on this ride! One of the beams might decapitate you.”

Jasper growled and took a step forward. “If my date wants to go on this ride, then she will.” Nobody was going to tell Peridot what to do, except her, and maybe not even then. She pointed at her chest. “I survived a thousand-year war, being corrupted, and living with the Crystal Gems for months! This pathetic contraption won’t kill me.”

Mr. Smiley’s smile dimmed but he quickly hid his fright from the quartz gem. He puffed up his chest and gave Jasper his biggest smile. “Do you know what a life time ban is?”

“Do you know what a broken nose is?” Jasper growled back. Two pairs of tugging arms pulled Jasper away from the nervous Mr. Smiley. She didn’t fight them and allowed herself to be dragged away toward the game section of the amusement park.

When she was safely away from Mr. Smiley, Lapis and Peridot let go of her arms. “It’s sweet that you stood up for me,” Peridot said, a blush still on her face.

Jasper shrugged, “It was nothing,” she waved the compliment away but she couldn’t deny the pride she felt at it. “You should have let me take at least a swing at him. He deserves a good punch for mocking me before at the dart stand.” Jasper flexed her arms and gave an agitated growl, “I haven’t had a good fight for a long time.” The quartz gem knew even if they had let her fight Mr. Smiley, Jasper would have had to be very careful that she didn’t accidently kill the man.

Lapis giggled and patted Jasper’s arm. “Maybe that’s a good thing.” She looked around at the different games set up. “We can spend some time here before going to Fishstew’s Pizza.”

The three went to the different game stands, each of them rigged and unable to win anything. The money began to dwindle but the three of them didn’t care, they were having too much fun to do so. Jasper was about to play the dart game again but Peridot stopped her and pointed to a new sign that had been nailed onto the top of the scoreboard.

No one above eight feet can play this game on account of threats made previously from an eight-foot woman.

“Mr. Smiley,” Jasper growled. She wished that she had thrown the punch while she still could. She may get a lifetime ban but it would have been worth it to see the look on his face.

“Did you really threaten Mr. Smiley?” Lapis asked, leading the other two away from the dart stand. If Jasper couldn’t play then she and Peridot wouldn’t either.

Jasper shook her head but then grimaced. “Maybe a little but he was mocking me first. He made fun of my aim so I stared him down as I popped the golden balloon.” She looked at Peridot. “It’s where I won the big alien.”

Peridot’s eyes lit up as she jumped up and down. “I love him! His massive brain and his compassionate eyes are what drew me in. I used to have one of my own but he met an unfortunate end. But he’s floating in the fish tank now so he’s happy!” She pointed at a water game stall where one of the stuffed aliens hung from the roof. “Maybe we can win him over there!”

“We already tried,” Lapis said with a chuckle. It looked like she wanted to ruffle her hair but stopped herself before she could. She was about to say something but a toy from the test your strength game caught her eye. It was in the shape of a great white shark but it had tiger print fur on it. For some reason, it reminded Lapis of Jasper and the ocean, which made her smile to herself.

Jasper and Peridot were not loss by Lapis’s enchantment of the toy. They glanced at each other and nodded before dragging Lapis over to the game. Jasper rang the bell with a grin, already imagining the look of gratitude on Lapis’s face when she won her the shark plushy.

It took Mr. Smiley a few minutes to run over to the game booth and the smile ran away from his face at the sight of Jasper grinning wickedly at him. “How may I help you folks?”

“I want to play,” Jasper said, grabbing the rest of the money out of her pocket.

Mr. Smiley gulped and was extremely reluctant to nod. “Okay, well first you’re going to need this.” He hesitated before handing over the game’s mallet. “What you want to do is hit the target here as hard as you can. If the gong rises high enough to hit that bell, you win. It’s two bucks for a turn but five dollars for three.”

Jasper was about to hand over five dollars but Peridot spoke up, “Wait!” She narrowed her eyes at Mr. Smiley. “How many times do we have to win to get that?” she asked, pointing to the tiger printed shark.

“Five times,” Mr. Smiley answered, sweat beading on his forehead. “It’s a very limited edition plushy, as in the company made the mistake of giving the great whites the tiger fur printing.” He knew these weirdly colored people wouldn’t leave until they won. He just hoped that there was still going to be an amusement park left when they do.

Peridot frowned and snatched the money from Jasper’s hand. She counted it and groaned. “Even if you win this game five times in a row, we won’t possibly have enough money for our last date.” The technician handed back the money and tapped her chin in thought. “We can always just take it when the park closes.”

“That would be stealing,” Lapis said, “and Steven told me that was wrong.”

“The blue girls right,” Mr. Smiley agreed. “And if you steal anything, I’ll have to call security and ban you all indefinitely.”

“What if I break this toy on my first try?” Jasper asked, eyeing the plushy. She wasn’t going to leave until she got it. She wanted to see Lapis smile and she damn sure was going to get what she wanted.

Lapis touched Jasper’s arm to get the bigger gem to look down at her. “I don’t need it, honestly.” Even though the words left her mouth, Lapis felt warm that Peridot and Jasper were deadest on winning her a toy. She liked that they both wanted to get her something, it made her feel special.

Jasper grunted and shook her head before looking back at Mr. Smiley. “If I break the bell on my first try, will I win the shark or not?”

Mr. Smiley weighed his options and noticed that a crowd was forming around the game, apparently they wanted to see the woman with the mallet break his precious game. If he said no, the crowd would disperse and maybe leave the park. If he said yes, the buff woman could break his game. But if she couldn’t, some of the people in the crowd might want to try their luck. Mr. Smiley took a deep breath and made his decision. “Two dollars please,” he announced with a smile that hid his immediate regret at the almost feral look on the tall woman’s face.

Jasper eagerly paid the man and took a step towards the game. The crowd started to chant, “Smash it! Smash it!” and the quartz gem could have sworn she could hear Amethyst leading them. A glance to her right confirmed her suspicions. The purple gem was indeed in the front of the crowd and when she caught Jasper looking at her, Amethyst pointed to Lapis and Peridot and gave the quartz gem a thumbs up and a waggle of her eyebrows. “Way to go, Sis!” Jasper rolled her eyes and renewed her concentration on the target. She looked at Peridot and Lapis who were watching her and then back at the mallet. Jasper shrugged and dropped the object, earning a gasp of excitement from the crowd.

“I don’t need it,” Jasper said to nobody in particular. It felt good having so much attention on her and she could show off to Lapis and Peridot. She entwined her fingers to make a double-handed fist and raised her arms up. The crowd went silent when Jasper gave a battle snarl and slammed her fists down on the target, the gong shooting up. Jasper only had enough time to look up as it crashed into the bell and rip it clean off the frame. The bell and gong rose a few feet into the air before smashing back down on the boardwalk, the bell making a dent and the gong breaking through the wood boards.

The crowd went absolutely insane, screaming and cheering Jasper’s name, once again led by Amethyst. Jasper shrugged like the praises didn’t matter to her and smirked at Mr. Smiley. “I would like the shark with tiger fur please.”

Mr. Smiley was too busy gaping at his destroyed game. So many people played it every day and now it was gone. He closed his mouth and people rushed over to him, asking how much it would cost to have the remains of the destroyed game. Mr. Smiley choked out a few incoherent words and the people started to bid on the bell and the foundation. Someone even shouted that they would pay for the gong if it was ever found. They were offering more than what the actual thing cost! He wore a genuine smile as he grabbed the shark and gave it to Jasper. “Come back anytime!”

Jasper took the shark and presented it to Lapis. “It was Peridot’s idea,” she admitted when Lapis took the prize.

Lapis hugged the plushy to her chest and had to lean up to kiss Jasper’s cheek and lean down to kiss Peridot’s. “Thank you, both of you.”

The group left the amusement park, not before they heard some suggestive whistling courtesy of a certain purple gem. They walked to Fishstew’s Pizza, Lapis holding her toy close and Peridot and Jasper grinning smugly. Jasper held open the door and the three walked in and got a table at the far side of the restaurant. One of the Pizza’s daughters, Kiki, walked over to the table with a notepad ready. “What can I - hey I know you!” she said, looking at Jasper. She grabbed her phone and tapped away for a few moments before showing the screen to the group. The three gems watched as Jasper broke the game and win the shark. “My sister Jenny sent me this video. You’re really strong, girl!”

“I am not a girl, I am a quartz warrior,” Jasper corrected without any misgivings for the mistake.

“Oh, sorry,” Kiki apologized with a blush. “Well, what can I get you three?”

They ordered a medium pepperoni pizza and a water for each of them. The three talked about their favorite moments from the amusement park and how Mr. Smiley actually seemed happy that Jasper broke his game. When the pizza and water came, Jasper did most of the eating, having worked up a ferocious appetite after the day’s activities. Lapis and Peridot did nibble at their respective slices of pizza but mostly watched Jasper eat. Jasper almost squirmed in her chair at their attention, the tip of her tentacle poking out. The quartz gem started to really consider if she was going into heat. Maybe she could excuse herself and relieve the mounting arousal in the bathroom but she didn’t want to leave the two alone for an extended period of time. Jasper settled on eating the food and thinking of anything that would douse her arousal, like Greg in underwear.

The three finished their food quickly and Kiki walked back to their table. She was about to hand over the check but stopped herself. “Hey, aren’t you by any chance some of Steven’s family?”

“Family?” Peridot asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah you know, the three Crystal Gems that live with Steven. Aren’t you all related?”

Lapis snorted and shook her head. “No, none of the gems are related. We were all created differently.”

Peridot tilted her head at Jasper. “Although, you and Amethyst were both created here so I guess you can say you two are related. What did she call you from before?”

“Sis,” Jasper grunted. She looked at the pizza girl and shrugged. “Steven stopped the others from poofing me so I suppose that’s a good sign. I wouldn’t say I was related to that pearl though,” she finished with a grimace. There was no way she would ever be connected to Pearl. She was far too bossy and loud. The quartz gem took out the rest of the money and tried to hand it to Kiki. “You can have whatever is left. I don’t need it.”

Kiki held up her hands and took a step back. “No, keep your money. Think of this as a thank you for saving the city so much.” Right after the words left her mouth, some loud yelling came from the kitchen. Kiki rolled her eyes at the words and smiled at the trio. “Don’t pay attention to my father. I’ll pay the bill with my tips if he’s so mad about it.”

Jasper started to walk out of the restaurant before Lapis and Peridot could try to persuade her to pay the bill. It was the pizza girl’s fault she didn’t want the money, not Jasper’s. She did wait for the two to catch up and held out the door for them however. They started back towards the barn and Jasper was surprised to see how much time had passed during their dates. The sun was already sinking and the skies were darkening to a lovely reddish orange. Maybe she could convince the other two to look at the stars together.

Lapis’s laughter brought Jasper’s attention down to the water gem. Lapis held the toy out and seemed to be laughing at it. Jasper and Peridot shared a confused glance and Lapis explained. “You broke that game and risked getting a lifetime ban for this plushy so we could have money for dinner but we didn’t need it!” Lapis looked back at the shark and laughed harder, Peridot soon joining in.

“I wouldn’t have cared much if I was banned anyway,” Jasper said with a huff. “The test your strength game was a joke. I wasn’t even trying and I still broke it.” Lapis and Peridot laughed even louder at Jasper’s comment and the quartz gem grinned at their reactions. It was nice seeing them so happy because of her.

Unfortunately, they ended up at the barn far sooner than any of them would have liked. Lapis slid open the barn door while Peridot cleared her throat and placed her hands behind her back. “This is the part where you kiss us good night,” she stated matter-of-factly.

Jasper hummed and weighed her options. She didn’t want the dates to end so soon but Peridot and Lapis were both expecting a kiss. Jasper suddenly grinned at a wonderful idea and smirked down at the two. “I don’t think so,” she practically purred. She went inside the barn and closed the door behind her without any explanation.

Peridot and Lapis both gulped at the predatory look on Jasper’s face and the almost feral glowing golden eyes.


	20. Oh My

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay ladies and gentlemen! This is the chapter that most of you have been waiting for! Just in case some of do not like it, this chapter is mostly sexually explicit content between three consenting gems that are thousands of years old. Don't like it, don't read it. For those of you who are staying, because it took 19 chapters to get here, this is indeed a lengthy scene. I hope you guys enjoy it (perhaps wrong words to use heh) but this is one of the first times that I have ever written stuff like this. So please be gentle (DEFINITELY wrong words to use) and tell me if you want more scenes like this in the future (prob not as long and most likely given own chapter in case people want to skip it) also two days after the last update! YES!

Jasper smirked at the look on Peridot’s and Lapis’s faces. She bent down and picked both of them up. Neither complained of being carried or the jump Jasper took to reach the second floor of the barn. Jasper set them down and instantly began kissing Peridot, pulling her close as she kneeled on the mattress. Peridot returned the kiss with a surprised yelp that morphed into a groan. The quartz gem couldn’t stop smirking into the kiss but she realized they had left Lapis all alone. Jasper broke the kiss to look at Lapis.

            Lapis was beyond excited at the hunger in both Peridot’s and Jasper’s eyes. She crawled towards them and let her fingers brush through Jasper’s mane before pulling the bigger gem into a rough kiss. She let one hand slide down Peridot’s body and rub at her right inner thigh, just a few inches from her sex. Lapis knew that Peridot was prone to give off those delicious whines at even the slightest teasing.

Peridot indeed whined and looked at Lapis pleadingly. When the water gem only gave her a cruel smirk while still kissing Jasper, Peridot decided to take matters into her own hands. If Lapis wasn’t going to help her with the increasing slickness in between her legs, then Jasper would. Hopefully. Peridot wiggled down so that her hips pressed against Jasper’s and gasped when the quartz gem rocked her own hips down like it was instinct. Peridot moaned but the sound was tampered with confusion. She felt something sort of hard press into her as Jasper rocked her hips down. It wasn’t unpleasant, far from it, but Peridot didn’t know what it was. She placed her hands on Jasper’s midsection and the rocking stopped. Jasper broke the kiss with Lapis to look down at the green gem.

“Did I hurt you?” Jasper asked, concern and desire dripping from the words.

“N-no,” Peridot stammered, trying to think through the fog in her mind. “Something’s pressing into me and I don’t know what it is.” She reached down to cup the bulge in Jasper’s pants, earning a sharp intake of breath from the quartz gem. Peridot rubbed it, trying to feel the shape of it, and raised an eyebrow when Jasper groaned and her hips resumed their rocking. “What is this?” Peridot asked.

Jasper wanted to not explain and just continue to indulge in Peridot’s touch but the technician deserved an answer. It wasn’t like she was not going to see it anyway. Jasper gently removed the hand that was rubbing her, as much as she didn’t want to, and pulled down the front of her sweatpants so her tentacle was exposed. “It’s this.” Jasper gave it a few strokes, she couldn’t help it with the two gems staring at it.

Peridot squeaked at the sight of it and pressed her hips down so the thing wouldn’t be able to touch her. She knew she upset Jasper by the way the quartz gem’s hand still on her tentacle. “I uh, heard rumors of the earth quartz gems having a tentacle but I never saw one in person.” She forced herself to relax but Jasper could still see she was unnerved at the sight of it.

“Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea,” Jasper muttered, pulling up her sweatpants to cover the tentacle. What was she thinking, jumping on the two like this? They only had three dates and she should have warned them about her tentacle before humping Peridot like some beast. Jasper sat up, about to leave when Peridot grabbed her shirt.

“Wa-wait,” Peridot pleaded, pulling the shirt like she could physically keep Jasper there. “I didn’t mean to sound like I don’t like it.” A dark blush spread across her cheeks and she glanced at Lapis for moral support. When the water gem gave her an encouraging smile, Peridot took a deep breath and admitted, “I don’t know what to do.” She tugged at Jasper’s shirt again and didn’t look at her eyes. “I want to learn so phase off your clothes.”

Jasper looked down at Peridot who had a very determined look on her face and then Lapis who was watching Peridot with an amused grin. Jasper chuckled and removed Peridot’s hands before grabbing the hem of her tank top and pulling it over her head. “I need to take off human clothing manually,” she explained, not missing at how both sets of eyes were studying the newly exposed skin appreciatively. Lapis reached out and ran her fingers over a red stripe that was previously hidden.

“Beautiful,” Lapis whispered. Peridot nodded in agreement while Jasper flushed at the compliment.

The quartz gem didn’t think her stripes were beautiful. They were the sign of her creation on earth, a defect of what was supposed to be a single-colored skin. But the way that Lapis and Peridot were looking at her, it was like her stripes weren’t flaws but something to be marveled at.

Jasper’s bewildered train of thought was abruptly ended when she felt a pair of lips kiss at the stripe. Lapis smirked up at her and kissed her skin again, this time on her neck. Jasper’s eyes closed and she growled at the teeth nipping at the flesh, trying to mark her as Lapis’s own. She could feel Peridot pulling down the sweatpants and peeked an eye open to watch her studying the tentacle. “Just grab it,” Jasper groaned as a cool tongue licked at the spot where Lapis had bit her.

Peridot nodded and looked back at the tentacle. It was also striped with orange swirling up it and there seemed to be little ridges along the sides. The more Peridot studied the tentacle and learn about the peculiarity of it, the calmer she felt. She grabbed the tentacle like Jasper instructed but the quartz gem’s hips jerked back with a pained yelp. “Sorry!’ Peridot must have grabbed it too hard.

“It’s fine,” Jasper reassured Peridot but damn did that hurt. She glared at Lapis who laughed at Peridot’s mistake but the water gem gave her an apologetic smile. She glanced down to see if there was anything wrong and breathed out a sigh of relief when her tentacle appeared to be okay. The quartz gem reached down and gave it a slow stroke. “It’s the most sensitive part of my body so you can’t grip too hard.”

“Let me have a try, Peri” Lapis said with a mischievous grin.

Jasper gulped and watched as Lapis kissed down her body. When Lapis reached Jasper’s tentacle she gave a few strokes before licking the tip, earning a groan from Jasper. She glanced at Peridot who seemed to be entranced by the display she was seeing. Lapis smirked and took an inch of the tentacle into her mouth, sucking only enough to get Jasper to whine and her hips to rock up. The water gem pushed the hips back down and began to bob her head, taking more of Jasper with each turn. There was no way she could fit everything into her mouth, but by the sounds of pleasure coming from the quartz gem, Lapis figured she didn’t care. She hummed at the clawed hand that buried itself in her blue locks, not pulling her any further down than she wished but just to make sure she didn’t stop.

Peridot saw that Lapis couldn’t take in everything so she leaned forward to lick at the shaft to make up for the pain she caused Jasper earlier. On a bold move, the green gem started to suck on one of the ridges and was pleased with how Jasper’s hips jerked up.

The quartz gem couldn’t believe it. Peridot and Lapis were trying to suck her off and by the diamonds did it feel so good. Her hand left Lapis’s hair to steady herself as she leaned back to get a better view of the two. Jasper growled at the sight and tried her best not to move but it was hard. She gripped at the mattress beneath her, her claws slicing through the material but Jasper didn’t think the two minded. “Stop,” she grunted. The two gems did stop and they looked up at Jasper in concern. “I want to play with you two too.”

Jasper reached down and pulled Peridot closer. She kissed the green gem as her hands wandered her clothed body. The quartz gem panted and moaned as Lapis started to stroke her tentacle, too impatient to wait for Jasper’s or Peridot’s attention to play.

Sensing that Jasper wanted to touch her, Peridot phased off her clothing.

Seeing the gem naked not by her doing, Jasper shoved Peridot down on the mattress as she growled low in her throat in a flare of dominance. Her hands gripped the green gem harshly but made sure her claws didn’t pierce the skin. She ignored Lapis’s gasp and blue eyes that were losing their desire and gaining fear for her lover.

Peridot shrieked at the sudden turn and grabbed at Jasper’s hands.

The scream snapped Jasper back to her senses. She realized what she had done and leaned back to give Peridot room. “Fuck, I’m sorry! I didn’t, I wasn’t,” Jasper touched the spot where her hand shoved Peridot down, her own hand trembling slightly at the bruise starting to form. “I lost control.” Her hand gripped at her hair as she backed further away from the two. “I’m sorry, I-I can’t.”

“N-no, Jasper, wait.” Peridot leaned up and brushed away the loose strands that hid Jasper’s face. She could see the panic in her eyes and quickly pressed her lips against Jasper’s, hoping to distract her.  “It’s okay,” she whispered against Jasper’s lips. “I’m here.”

“I’m here too,” Lapis said, crawling to the two. She kissed Jasper’s cheek and wrapped her arms loosely around her shoulders, leaning against her back. “It’s okay.” Lapis snuggled against Jasper’s mane and rest her hand on her chest, feeling the heart that shouldn’t be there thump. “We’re here.”

Jasper didn’t know what to do so she settled on just being held by the two gems. She almost hurt Peridot and they were comforting her. Why?

“Because we love you,” Peridot whispered.

Jasper nearly jumped at the answer, not realizing she had voiced the question. She wrapped one arm around Peridot and reached behind with the other to hold Lapis to her. “I didn’t mean to do that to you.”

Peridot shrugged and looked down at the arm holding her. “I know you didn’t and honestly we should have expected that to happen.” Jasper’s look of horror made Peridot grimace. Did the gem really not trust herself that much? “You were a corrupted gem and some of that is still here.” Peridot laid a hand on one of the turquoise spots on Jasper’s arm to prove her point. “Parts of you are still corrupted, maybe even forever so of course you would be a little more aggressive than Lapis and I.”

“A little?” Jasper moved her hand so that it was touching exactly where she had shoved Peridot down. “I could have seriously injured you.”

“You could have,” Peridot agreed. “But you stopped as soon as we showed any,” the green gem fought for the right word to say, “displeasure.” She leaned up to brush her lips against Jasper’s. “We’re not afraid of you, Jasper.” Peridot laid down on the mattress and held Jasper’s hand so it still touched her. She smiled up at the bigger gem. “Let us show you that.”

Jasper felt a whine rise in her throat at the sight. Lapis moved some of Jasper’s hair away so she could whisper into her ear. “It’s okay, she’s a lot tougher than she looks. Trust me.”

The quartz gem nodded absentmindedly and turned her head so she could kiss Lapis before letting go of her. The water gem returned the kiss and shifted around so that she had a better view of the two gems. Jasper leant down and kissed Peridot swiftly before moving down her body. She left a nip here and there, nothing too hard but apparently enough to make Peridot pant. Jasper stopped at her breasts and eagerly took a nipple into her mouth, her fear of going too far melting away with each whine Peridot gifted her. The quartz gem played with the unattended breast and switched every once in a while before Peridot grabbed Jasper’s horns and gently pushed. Getting the hint, Jasper kissed down her body and growled at the scent of the source of arousal. Peridot had her legs closed and her eyes looking up at the ceiling but Jasper would have none of it. She grabbed the technician’s legs and moved them apart and dived down to have a taste before Peridot could stop her. As her tongue licked up, Jasper knew she would become incurably addicted. Peridot was tangy and so delicious that Jasper would have been content just eating her out throughout the night. The hands gripping at her hair and horns was also very nice, especially when they tugged when Jasper lapped at her clit.

“J-Jasper,” Peridot moaned, leaning up to look at what the quartz gem was doing to her. A part of her feared that she was overstepping her bounds, gripping Jasper’s beige hair like that and her constant grinding to get more friction, but with each swipe of that amazing tongue, Peridot was caring less and less. She glanced over and gulped at how Lapis’s eyes were watching them greedily and that smirk. Peridot wanted to touch her too but she couldn’t concentrate on much like this. Lapis used that little fact to her advantage several times before when it was just the two of them. She groaned and her hips jerked up as one of the claws accidently pressed into her thigh, not hard enough to pierce the skin but still it stung but in a very good way. “Wait, I-I want to,” Peridot didn’t know what exactly she wanted but she didn’t want to be the only one feeling this good.

Jasper growled at having to stop, however she smirked at how the growl made Peridot tremble. She did lift her face away from Peridot and wiped her mouth and chin clean of the evidence of the green gem’s arousal. Now that she wasn’t focused on ripping those delicious sounds from Peridot, Jasper realized that her tentacle was painfully erect. The quartz gem moved a hand down to palm her tentacle and noticed how Peridot’s eyes flashed down to it. Smirking, Jasper leaned up and pulled her sweatpants back down but realized that the green gem might be too small for her.

Seeing the frown on Jasper’s face as she looked at her, Peridot shook her head. “I want to try,” she said, desire making her words a little slurred. “Please, Jasper. I-I need you.”

The last three words made Jasper growl possessively and her eyes narrowed in dominance. She grabbed Peridot and pulled her hips up into the air so she had a better angle. Jasper used her other hand to guide her tentacle to Peridot’s opening and ever so slowly entered her. Her ears were perked to every sound Peridot made and she knew Lapis would stop them if she caused the green gem any discomfort. Jasper panted and forced herself to only allow her hips to rock back and forth gently, slowly her tentacle went deeper and deeper into Peridot. She could feel the more primal side of her roar to take the gem as fast and as hard as she could, Peridot was hers after all. Jasper snarled at the voice to shut up as she watched Peridot’s face alight with pleasure at each small thrust.

Finally, Jasper’s hips brushed against Peridot’s and the quartz gem growled in approval. “Hold on a second,” Peridot groaned, a hand resting on Jasper’s chest. “Give me a moment to get used to it, it’s bigger than anything Lapis has ever done.”

Jasper would have gladly given Peridot the rest of the night to get used to her size if need be but the words stilled her body. “Ever done?” she repeated, turning her head to look at Lapis. Peridot mewed when she felt the tentacle twitch inside her.

Lapis blushed a dark blue and shrugged. “There isn’t a lot to do on earth to keep you busy when you don’t have to sleep.” She could tell that Jasper was imagining all the things she and Peridot would do in the middle of a night by the way her hips started rocking on their own accord. If she was completely honest, most of Jasper’s visions were probably spot on. Lapis couldn’t keep her hands to herself when it came to Peridot. The green gem was just too cute when she was under the water gem. Lapis looked at the two and realized she probably won’t be able to keep her hands off of Jasper too but right now she was content on just watching them.

Jasper must have realized what her hips were doing at the thoughts of the two gems being alone and having fun because she stilled at a groan from Peridot. “Are you all right?”

Peridot bit her bottom lip and nodded, squirming her hips to try to get Jasper moving again. Now that she was mostly used to it, the size was definitely a plus. It felt that she was still full when Jasper pulled back and when she was fully sheathed in her, it made her cry out in pleasure. “Don’t stop, please,” she begged. “It feels so good.”

At Peridot’s words and Jasper’s groan, Lapis decided she couldn’t be a bystander anymore. She crawled in front of Peridot and cupped her cheek to get her attention. She smiled down at the green gem and phased away her clothing. Peridot gave a particularly loud whine at the sight of her other lover naked and Jasper gave a particularly hard thrust. Lapis giggled and opened her legs, “I need you too, Peri.”

Peridot moaned and reached up with a hand to trail up Lapis’s right leg. She knew the water gem could be so impatient once she decides that she wants pleasure too but Peridot loved marveling at her body. She was very beautiful and Peridot adored reminding her with slow and loving touches. She knew Lapis secretly liked them too but the green gem was doubtful that she would ever voice it. Peridot looked up at Jasper. She was beautiful as well, with her muscular stature and those lovely stripes. Even the claws and horns somehow made her even more wild and beautiful. Like they belonged on the quartz gem. Peridot turned her attention back to Lapis and finally started to touch her. She easily slipped in two fingers and her thumb ground on her clit. Lapis gave a happy moan and leaned back, her hands playing with her own breasts. Peridot set up a rough pace, just how Lapis liked but her position made it awkward for her to give Lapis everything she wanted. The technician looked down to see where Jasper’s hips were rocking down to meet hers and blushed at the sight of the tentacle leaving and entering her. It must not be too comfortable for the quartz gem to keep that position. Peridot grinned as a sudden thought bloomed into her head. She squirmed up so that the tentacle couldn’t enter her.

“What’s wrong?” Jasper panted, already missing the warmth inside Peridot. She didn’t think she was hurting her, not by the sounds emitting from the green gem. Maybe Peridot wanted to focus on pleasuring Lapis. Jasper wouldn’t mind at all, in fact she would rather enjoy watching that show.

Peridot shook her head with a playful laugh and rolled over so she was on her hands and knees. She looked behind at Jasper who was staring at her, her mouth slightly opened and very much aroused. “I just thought it would be better this way,” she said almost innocently.

Jasper continued to stare at the small gem. She didn’t think Peridot had it in her to do something like that, she had assumed the technician would be all blushes and shy touches when it came to sex. But she was presenting herself to Jasper and all the quartz gem could do was stare like a fool.

Lapis laughed at the look on Jasper’s face. “Yeah, she’s a little minx when she wants to be,” she said. She probably had the same expression when she first found that out herself but she couldn’t resist poking a little fun.

Jasper shook her head and shoved herself back into Peridot, the sound of skin slapping against skin coming off the two. “Peri,” she grunted. The quartz gem all but snarled as her control started to chip away. She bent over and continually growled as she properly fucked Peridot.

Peridot gave a surprised yip that quickly turned into a lengthy moan. She was grateful for the large hand on her stomach making sure she stayed on her hands and knees because she doubted she would be able to stay up like this. Peridot could feel sweat beading on her skin but there was no way she was going to complain. “Yes, Jasper!” she moaned, pushing her hips back to meet Jasper’s forward thrusts.

The quartz gem purred at the whimpers and pants and moans Peridot was giving because of her. She was the cause of Peridot’s flush skin and glazed eyes. Jasper suddenly snarled and bent down to kiss and bite at Peridot’s shoulder. She needed to mark her, to make sure the other gems knew she was taken and not for grabs.

“Don’t forget about me,” Lapis whined.

Jasper lifted her eyes to look at Lapis. She needed to mark the water gem too. Jasper reached out and grabbed the back of Lapis’s head, pulling the other gem closer. She kissed her lips harshly, swallowing the moan that was on Lapis’s lips. Jasper glanced down and saw Peridot licking at Lapis’s sex in between her moans. The quartz gem smirked and kissed down Lapis’s neck to her shoulder, giving the skin a swift bite and a soothing lick every once in a while. She leaned back to look at her handiwork on the two gems. The sight of her markings on them made a knot in Jasper’s stomach and she growled as she sped up her pace. “So close,” she grunted.

Peridot nodded and redoubled her efforts on Lapis, sucking on her clit lightly as two fingers entered her and the other hand scratched down her thigh, leaving a trail of red lines that would disappear by tomorrow morning. She could feel herself about to fall off her edge but she held out as long as she could. A few thrusts however, Peridot’s body locked up and began to tremble uncontrollably as she climaxed. She moaned Jasper’s and Lapis’s name as she came back to her senses.

The sudden tightness in Peridot made Jasper break the kiss she was sharing with Lapis to give a groan as she found her release. She allowed herself to climax in Peridot and slumped over her body, her hips giving sporadic thrusts to prolong both their orgasms. When her tentacle sheathed itself, Jasper sat down and fought to catch her breath. She didn’t realize how much she was working until now, a sheen of sweat covered her body. Jasper looked at Lapis who was watching Peridot come down from her climax with a small grin.

When green eyes opened up, Lapis kissed Peridot sweetly and moved to give Jasper an equally sweet kiss. She looked back when Peridot laid a hand on her back, right under her gem.

“You didn’t-“ Peridot looked a little ashamed of herself that she didn’t give Lapis an orgasm when she experienced one.

Lapis laughed and kissed Peridot’s cheek. “I don’t need to, you know. Seeing you two like that was more than enough for me.”

“Are you sure?” Jasper asked. Now that she wasn’t rutting against Peridot like some animal, she could actually think. She knew that couldn’t do anything with her tentacle anytime soon but she and Peridot could still do a lot of things to make Lapis climax.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Lapis said with a nod. It made her happy that the two were so concerned about pleasuring her but she could see how exhausted they both were. “Come on, I want to cuddle.”

Peridot quickly crawled over and let Lapis spoon her. This was her favorite part after sex, just being held and slowly calming down. Jasper followed the two and laid behind Lapis, her arm long enough to wrap around the two. She didn’t know how long they would let her stay in the barn and she doubted she would stay awake after a couple of minutes. Today was a very eventful day and all Jasper wanted to do was sleep. She nuzzled against the back of Lapis’s neck as her eyes slid close, purring when she smelled both her and Peridot’s scents on her skin. She knew that Peridot would have Lapis’s and her own scent on her skin and the thought made the purring grow louder.

Snickering from two gems made Jasper opened her eyes to look at them. “What?”

“You purr,” Lapis teased.

Jasper narrowed her eyes and huffed. “Yeah, so what? I purr when I’m happy.”

Peridot rolled over so she could look at Jasper’s face. “We make you happy?”

The uncertainty in her voice made Jasper blink and the purring stop. “Why does that surprise you?” Jasper realized what Peridot was inferring and she pulled the two closer to her with a defiant growl. “You both make me happy. I don’t give a fuck that you’re a peridot and a lapis lazuli. You’re _my_ Peridot and Lapis so stop thinking that you can’t make me happy because you can and you are. I spent an entire day doing a ridiculous human ritual because I wanted to spend time with you two and you know what? I actually enjoyed it!” Jasper groaned and buried her face into the crook of Lapis’s shoulder where she had marked her, her chest rumbling with a purr at the mingled scents she found there. “See! I’m not even trying to make this absurd noise! It just happens because I’m with you two.” The quartz gem calmed down and whispered. “I don’t want this to end, I’ll fight with everything I got if someone tries to take you two away from me.”

Jasper might have said more but the sudden kissing cut off thought. She returned the kisses on instinct and soon the three settled down on the mattress. Somehow Jasper ended up in the middle with Peridot on her left and Lapis on her right. The quartz gem didn’t know how it happen but she did like being spooned from both sides, not that she would admit it. Soon her eyes slid shut for good and her breathing slowed as she slept.

Lapis and Peridot grinned at each other as they listened to Jasper’s snores. Lapis leaned over and kissed Peridot, just because she could. She moved back to spot and glanced at Jasper.

“She has changed a lot since we’ve first met her,” Peridot whispered, careful not to wake the quartz gem yet. But by the hunger in Lapis’s eyes, she figured Jasper would get at most an hour of rest before being woken.

As Peridot had thought, Jasper was woken up several times throughout the night to make love to two needy gems. Not that she was complaining of course.


	21. When the Past Comes and Bites You in the Butt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there is a scene of violence and blood. Read at your own risk

Jasper frowned as she rolled over, feeling too cold to her liking. When her arm reached out and touched nothing but cool mattress, a whine bubbled up in the quartz’s throat, sleep ebbing away. She heard two gem’s laughter coming from behind and rolled over to face them. Jasper peeked an eye open and saw that Lapis and Peridot were cuddling together while watching something on Peridot’s tablet, both still naked but without a care. Jasper whined again when she saw how their bodies were littered with love bites from the night before, most of which were from her, and scooted closer to them, purring at the heat that radiated from their bodies. She leaned up and greeted Lapis with a quick swipe of her tongue against her cheek.

Lapis tensed up at the lick and looked at Jasper like she had told her that she wanted to learn how to dance like Pearl. Jasper didn’t paid no mind to the strange look and bent down to lick Peridot’s cheek too, her chest rumbling as her purr grew louder.

Unlike Lapis, Peridot was very vocal about her displeasure. “That’s disgusting, Jasper!” she yelled as she wiped her hand against her now wet cheek. Peridot paused the video the two were watching so she could glare at the quartz gem. Jasper only met her stare with a confused one. All she did was say good morning. Peridot flicked Jasper’s nose and grumbled something about a striped clod not having manners as she resumed the video.

Jasper figured she wasn’t in any real trouble because the gems didn’t kick her out of the mattress so she made herself comfortable. She laid on her side and rested an arm around the two gems, her thumb absentmindedly stroking Peridot’s side. When the video was over, Jasper yawned and sat up, reaching her arms high above her head. She didn’t miss how two sets of eyes roamed her body as she stretched. “How are you two?”

Peridot answered with a kiss on Jasper’s lips. “Good.”

Lapis tore her eyes off Jasper’s body long enough to meet her gaze. “Very good,” she said, her eyes darker than usual with lust. Jasper almost smirked at the sight, after a night full of lovemaking, Lapis was still as eager as before. It made her want to stay in the barn forever but she knew she had to leave soon. So she gave the two gems a quick kiss and stood up from the mattress before either of them could pull her down. If they did that, then any resolve Jasper worked up would be gone.

“I have to go back,” she said, bending down to grab the sweatpants off the floor. She tugged them on as the two pouted.

“Why?” Peridot grumbled, clicking out of the website she was visiting. Jasper saw that it was about spare robotic parts and wondered if the green gem was starting to make her own limb enhancers. She hoped not, even if it made Peridot taller, Jasper preferred having warm hands touching her instead of cold floating digits.

“Pearl might try to track me down if I stay away for too long,” Jasper answered, pulling on the tank top. She felt a little guilty at leaving so soon but the longer she stayed, the likelihood of a search party increased.

Lapis chuckled at the thought, but an undertone of bitterness darkened the sound. “Maybe she should come and see and bring Garnet too.” She rested her head on Peridot’s shoulder possessively, earning an eyeroll from Peridot.

“I told you a thousand times, Lapis,” the technician said, exasperated by the water gem’s jealousy. “Garnet doesn’t see me like that _and_ she’s already in a relationship!”

“With who?” Lapis snorted. “Amethyst?”

This time Jasper rolled her eyes. “I doubt that. There is a better chance of Amethyst ending up with that pearl.” Now that she was thinking about it, there have been several times when Pearl looked at Amethyst when the purple gem wasn’t paying attention. And the way that Amethyst constantly teased Pearl. Everything clicked into place and Jasper almost growled at how she couldn’t see it before.

“She’s a heterofusion, Lapis,” Peridot explained, turning around to face the water gem. Usually the sight of her lover naked would cause the smaller gem to droll but the frown tugging at her lips and the jealousy in her blue eyes made her want to tell Lapis to cover herself. “And a permanent one at that. Obviously, the sapphire and the ruby love each other very much and besides, I only see them as a valuable comrade.” She reached out and cupped Lapis’s cheek. As if she pressed a button, Lapis’s hard eyes softened and she leaned into the touch. “There is nothing you need to be afraid of. I love you and I would never betray that, Laps.” Peridot smiled at how the nickname made the frown disappear.

Jasper grinned at the two, they really did love each other. She was just lucky to be a part of that. The quartz gem strolled over and had to kneel to press her lips against Lapis’s gem. Touching another’s gem was extremely personal and it was strictly forbidden on homeworld, perhaps even more so than fusing. “I love you too, Lapis. Don’t forget that,” she whispered against the gem. She moved up to kiss Peridot’s gem too. “And you as well.” Jasper leaned back and allowed the two to take turns pulling down her tank top and pressing a soft kiss on her own gem, feeling warm all over at the act. She forced herself to leave the barn before things could escalate further.

After a quick jog to burn off some steam, Jasper reached the beach house. She entered it and took a quick look around. Seeing no one but a sleeping Lion on her bed and Steven in his own, the quartz gem quickly walked to the bathroom and locked the door. Jasper hopped into the shower and turned the knob to the hottest setting. She sighed in relief as the scorching water worked out the knots in her back. Sleeping with the two gems was fun but sleeping on the mattress left her back bent in all the wrong ways. Jasper ran a clawed finger across each mark she could reach, proud that was could tell which one belonged to which gem. Peridot added a bit more teeth and as such her markings were more pronounced but Jasper didn’t mind, she certainly paid the gem back in full. Lapis’s were already fading and some were already gone. Jasper was a little saddened at that but the water gem did have the duller teeth of the three.

Once Jasper was cleaned and washed away the scent of sex, she phased on her uniform and strolled to the kitchen for some breakfast. Feeling lazy, she grabbed an apple and sat on the stool munching on it, trying to decide which books she wanted to get from the library for the week. Jasper glanced up at Steven’s sleeping form in his bed. She knew that he kept his phone on his dresser when he’s asleep. Maybe she could borrow it for a quick second and ask Connie. Jasper didn’t know how to use a phone but she figured it couldn’t be that hard.

Her plans were halted when the temple’s doors opened. Amethyst walked out and nodded a greeting to Jasper but stopped halfway through. She stayed still, studying Jasper, and her eyes widened at what she saw. Amethyst more bounded than walked to Jasper and slammed her hands on the counter. “Where were you last night!?” The words would have been accusatory if not for the excited smile on her face.

Confused, Jasper answered without a thought. “With Peridot and Lapis.”

Her answer made Amethyst even more excited. The purple gem pumped her fist into the air. “Sis got game!” she cheered, morphing into Purple Puma.

“Huh?” Jasper felt her cheeks start to grow warm and quickly took another bite out of her apple. For a reason unknown to the quartz gem, Amethyst knowing of her activities with Lapis and Peridot made her want to go away and not be seen for quite a while. She wasn’t ashamed of what she did but she didn’t like how Amethyst seemingly knew what she was doing within a moment.

Amethyst smirked at Jasper and morphed into her, with the horns and all. Jasper narrowed her eyes at the purple gem’s antics but they widened considerably when Amethyst pointed at her neck, one of Peridot’s marks visible on the purple flesh. “You might want to cover up that hickie, sis,” Amethyst joked in her best Jasper impersonation.

The apple that Jasper was eating got stuck in her throat and she had to slam a closed fist to her chest to dislodge it. Amethyst couldn’t help the poor quartz gem, she was too occupied laughing on the ground, still as Jasper.

Unfortunately for Jasper, the temple’s doors opened again and Pearl stepped out, her eyes narrowing in confusion at the scene before her. At least it wasn’t Garnet. The fusion would have had a field day if she saw Jasper’s hickies. Jasper growled weakly at Amethyst who had managed to at least get off the floor. Amethyst turned her head and wiped away the tears that fell out. “Hey, P.”

Pearl strolled into the kitchen, wondering what in the world Amethyst was doing shapeshifting into Jasper. “What’s going on here?”

Amethyst gave Jasper a wicked grin and threw an arm around Pearl’s shoulders. “What’s going on is that sis here is an animal.” She tapped her horn for effect. “Pun intended.”

“Amethyst, that isn’t funny,” Pearl chastised, ducking under Amethyst’s arm.

“Oh lighten up, P!” Amethyst said with a sad frown, shapeshifting back to her normal self.

Pearl rolled her eyes and focused on Jasper. “I was coming here to tell you that we are all about to go on a mission and we may need your help.”

Jasper raised an eyebrow to that. She didn’t like how Amethyst suddenly became serious and wouldn’t look at Jasper when Pearl talked. The quartz gem had her suspicions on what the mission entailed but she wanted to hear it from Pearl. “What is the mission about?”

“We are going to your kindergarten to bubble the rest of the corrupted gems.” To Pearl’s credit, she met Jasper’s eyes and her voice was steady as she answered.

“The ones I had captured I’m assuming?” Jasper had thought that the gems had already caught all of them.

Pearl nodded and this time her gaze wavered for just a moment. “Yes, some of them escaped before we could contain them.” She moved her eyes to Steven’s sleeping form. “Once Steven gets ready, we’re leaving.”

“Do I have any say in this?” Jasper asked. Whatever good feeling that was left after last night was crushed by Pearl’s swift, “No.” Pearl went back to the temple, leaving Jasper and Amethyst in a tense silence.

Amethyst rubbed the back of her neck, an action very similar to her own, Jasper realized. The purple gem sighed and sat on a stool next to the quartz gem. “You okay?” Amethyst laid a comforting hand on Jasper’s arm and was shocked when Jasper didn’t pull away.

“I’m fine,” Jasper grunted, her voice leaving no room for discussion.

“If you’re sure.” Amethyst glanced back at Steven to make sure he was asleep before leaning closer to Jasper so she could whisper. “Congrats by the way. For that,” she gestured to the hickie still plainly visible on Jasper’s neck. “I didn’t think you had it in you to handle those two.”

Jasper scoffed as she shook her head. “I’m a quartz warrior. Of course I can handle a peridot and a lapis lazuli.” A smirk spread across her face without Jasper’s knowledge.

Amethyst punched Jasper’s arm good naturedly. “That a girl, sis!” She lowered her voice when Steven turned over his bed but thankfully the boy still slept. “Honestly, I’m surprised that the two of them even got together after,” her eyes dimmed, “well you know.”

“Peridot interrogated Lapis and basically kept her as a prisoner?” Jasper offered. Amethyst nodded with a grimace. Jasper shrugged and leaned forward in her chair. “Life on earth is strange.” She glanced at Amethyst with a sad grin. “Did you ever expect me to live here after trying to shatter you all? More than once I might add.”

The purple gem took a few moments to think about a good way of answering before finally shaking her head. “Nope.” She glanced at Steven again, sporting her own sad smile. “I’m glad that he healed you though. It means that there’s still hope for the rest of them, ya know?”

“Maybe,” was all that Jasper could offer. She wasn’t like the other gems bubbled in the heart of the temple. She was infected by another and was only corrupted for a second before being poofed and bubbled. Jasper didn’t know if Steven will ever gain the ability to heal the shattered mind of a true corrupted gem but by the way Amethyst was looking down at her hands, she knew the rest also had their doubts. She sighed and looked out the window, watching some birds fly off in the sky.

It was another hour before Steven woke up and got ready for the mission. By the time the boy was waiting on the warp pad impatiently, everyone was in the beach house. It was uncomfortably tight with four gems and a hybrid standing on the warp pad but it only lasted a few seconds before they were teleported to the Beta Kindergarten. Jasper stepped off the pad as soon as the light from the warp pad stopped surrounding them.

“We should split up to make things faster,” Pearl suggested, looking at the numerous holes with an expression akin to disgust.

Jasper scowled at her and started to walk off in a random direction. “I don’t care what the rest of you do but I’m going on my own.”

“What!?” Steven called out, jumping off the pad and running at her. “At least take me with you in case you need help.” When Jasper didn’t slow down, he started to jog to keep up with her long strides. “Please?” Jasper just grunted but she didn’t say no so Steven continued to jog by her side. He noticed that the others didn’t say anything and looked back. Pearl and Amethyst looked very upset but Garnet gave him a thumb’s up, signaling that it was okay that he was going with Jasper and not someone else.

Jasper hated being on the mission already. She knew better than to try to get the boy away from her, he would just follow her around until she relented. A part of the quartz gem wished she had Lapis and Peridot with her now but a much bigger part was glad that they weren’t present. Jasper glared at the holes that the two passed. She knew every gem that had come out of this sad excuse for a kindergarten and she wished she didn’t. Most of them were gone now, either shattered in the war or corrupted. There were so few of them left that it made Jasper bare her fangs, something she thought she had gotten over.

Steven caught on Jasper’s mood and didn’t try to talk to her. He looked at the holes and with each little twitch of Jasper’s fingers, he knew that the gem that came out of the sandstone was dead or worse. There were too many times the quartz gem’s fingers twitched like she wanted to claw at something. Steven looked ahead, scanning the area for any corrupted gems. He couldn’t handle seeing anymore of Jasper’s tells, he didn’t want to know the cost of the rebellion.

The two were so caught up in their own minds that they didn’t realize where their feet were taking them until they stood in front of Jasper’s hole. Steven sneaked a glance at her face, worried at how she would react. Jasper was looking at the other holes around her own, none of them were still around. Out of all the holes that marked that face of rock, only she was left. The ultimate quartz warrior.

Jasper turned and marched to one of the injectors that was still embedded on the sandstone’s face, ready to inject another gem at a moment’s notice. Jasper jumped up and went into a spin dash, aiming straight for the legs. On the last second, she exited the spin dash and slammed her horns at the legs, roaring her rage as she felt the metal give way. The injected fell on the ground and Jasper grabbed it. She lifted the contraption above her head and marched back to her old hole. With another roar, she hurled the injector at her hole, destroying it with a thunder of broken rock falling. Jasper’s chest heaved as she inspected the wall face now. The other holes were left unharmed but hers was completely demolished. Not even Peridot would be able to say that it was her hole if she looked at it. Jasper glanced down at Steven and he stared back, her hands holding on to one another for any small amount of comfort. The quartz gem huffed and started to walk away, not giving her hole another second of her time.

Steven looked at the ruined hole, watching how the sun made the bits of metal that stuck out of the rubble shine. He turned and ran back to Jasper, not sure of what to make of what Jasper just did. He looked up at her face but it revealed nothing. Steven played with his fingers before resting a hand on her leg to get her attention. When she didn’t look down at him, he still asked. “Are you okay?”

“Why is everyone asking me that?” Jasper growled. She wanted to do something, anything! She had too much energy and after destroying her hole, Jasper just wanted to run for days on end without stopping. “I hated being the perfect quartz warrior.” She had no idea why she admitted that but she couldn’t stop now. It was like breaking her hole broke the dam within her. “I was always expected to follow orders, orders that sometimes meant I had to shatter other gems, other jaspers. I always said yes ma’am, never no, never thinking for myself.” A disgusted snarl tore from her throat. “I didn’t even know how to fucking read!” Jasper stopped and stared at the holes whose occupants would never have the chance to return. “We were created to fight. That’s all we were good for. That’s what everyone told us we were good for. But Rose Quartz saw more than that.” Her hands shook as she clenched her fists. “She fought and shattered her own kind because she saw something more than what we were told. She sacrificed so many gems for this planet because she saw more than what the diamonds said this chunk of rock was good for.” Jasper stopped talking, forcing her hands to relax lest the claws pierce her palms.

Steven was silent and the two stayed like that for a long time, the boy trying to figure out what to say and Jasper trying to keep her breathing under control. He opened his mouth and closed it several times, the words on his tongue dying before he could get them out. Finally, he found the right words that could help Jasper calm down and he was about to say them when he was interrupted by a loud inhuman roar.

Jasper’s body jerked as if someone physically pulled her back from her thoughts. Her head snapped about as she tried to find the corrupted gem that made the noise earlier. Her nose couldn’t pick up on anything but she knew it was there. Jasper took a step closer to Steven and allowed her claws and fangs to lengthen. If the boy got hurt, Pearl would never let her hear the end of it.

Another roar bounced off the sandstone walls, this one much louder than the first. The corrupted gem must have located them but Jasper and Steven still didn’t have a clue where it was coming from. “Use Rose’s bubble if I can’t stop it,” Jasper ordered with a growl. Her body tensed as her animal instincts kicked in and command that she fight the creature challenging her. Her eyes narrowed and through a cloud of dust, she could make out the corrupted gem’s body. Jasper snarled when the creature took a step forward, growling.

It was the corrupted quartz that Jasper had fused with months ago. The sight of it made Jasper’s blood run cold. She barely heard Steven call out her name as the creature gave a bellow and charged at the two. Jasper released her own battle cry as she went into a spin dash.

The two met with a boom that bounded off the walls. Jasper ended up under the creature and had to grab its jaws to stop it from tearing a chunk out of her shoulder. The fangs sliced into her hands but Jasper didn’t let go. She twisted her body, trying to get the creature on its back, but one of its paws caught her abdomen and slammed the quartz gem back on the ground. Jasper growled and headbutted the creature’s head, ignoring the claws that were digging into her stomach and tearing her flesh. The corrupted gem reared its head back and Jasper let go of the fangs so she could grab the forelimb pinning her down. Jasper used both legs to kick the creature off of her before it could try to bite her again. She rolled away as it slammed next to her, a hand covering the wound on her stomach. Blood poured out and seeped through her fingers but Jasper gave another snarl and charged. She caught the creature by surprised and jumped on its back, her free hand digging its claws into the flesh for better leverage. Jasper’s vision began to blur and she shook her head to clear it. The corrupted gem reared back on its two legs, hoping to throw off the quartz gem. Jasper grunted and let go of her wound to use both hands to grab at the creature’s back. She pushed out with both legs and the corrupted gem shrieked, backing up and slamming its back into a nearby wall. Jasper felt the strain but she kept pushing with her legs and pulling with her arms, trying to snap the corrupted gem’s back.

As soon as it started, it ended. The corrupted gem released one last shriek and poofed. Jasper fell hard on her front, the wind knocked out of her. She raised her head to see Steven staring at her stomach, his hand gripping Rose’s shield like he was about to throw it. Jasper coughed and grimaced as blood flew from her mouth, staining the orange ground red. She watched Steven run over to the gem and bubble it. He send it off with a tap of his hand and took a step towards her, his hands raised in case she needed help. She struggled to her feet but the pain crippled her. Before she hit the floor again though, Steven rushed over and grabbed her, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “Jasper I’m so sorry! I should have done something sooner but I was afraid that I would have hit you and-“ his rambling stopped as another bout of coughing brought up more blood.

Jasper groaned and sat down, propped up by the wall to her back. “Fuck,” she panted, looking at her stomach. She was somewhat surprised that she wasn’t dead already, there was so much blood. The quartz gem closed her eyes and felt the sun kiss her skin. “Of course I would die here,” she muttered.

“Y-you’re not g-going to die.”

She peaked an eye open and grimaced at Steven. “Bullshit,” she tried to growl but it came out a weak whisper.

Steven looked at the wound and took a deep breath. “I can heal you,” he said solemnly. “I’ve done it before with something like this,” he admitted. He gingerly moved Jasper’s clenching hand away from her stomach and gasped as blood immediately began to weep. Steven licked his hand and nodded in approval at the saliva gathered there. “When you slashed at me as you were first becoming corrupted, I should have been killed.” He placed his hand against the wound, not paying attention to how it felt like hamburger meat. “I felt your claws rip through me but I healed myself.”

Jasper’s breathing became steadier and her stomach didn’t hurt that much anymore. She could feel her body being stitched back together. “I don’t remember that.”

“Well you should,” Steven removed his hand to inspect the site. It was like the fight never occurred. The skin was still red where the blood was drying but there was no puncture wound. “It really hurt.” A hum was his only reply but he took it as an apology. He sighed and stood up, offering his hand. “Come on, the others probably heard the fighting and are worried about us.”

“You, maybe,” Jasper muttered, accepting the hand. She felt something familiar when they touched, like she was suddenly missing a piece of herself and was becoming whole. Jasper snatched her hand away like Steven had burned her and both gems stopped glowing.

Steven stared at his hand and then jumped back when he realized what was happening. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

Jasper shook her head, halting the words, and stood up on her own. She had a sudden sense of vertigo and placed a hand on the wall behind her for support. Once the dizzy spell left, Jasper turned and began to walk back to the warp pad. She saw the others there and as soon as they noticed Steven, Pearl and Amethyst ran over to him. They fussed over him and said that they heard fighting but they didn’t know where he was. He explained what had happened but stopped to calm Pearl down when she noticed the blood on his hand. He told the two that it was Jasper’s but she’s healed now so everything was okay. Jasper ignored all of them and stepped onto the warp pad. She didn’t acknowledge Garnet but the fusion studied her. “You and Steven almost fused.” It wasn’t a question but Jasper nodded anyway.

“You two almost did what!?”

“Whoah, what!?”

Amethyst and Pearl yelled at the same time and Steven looked around them at Jasper. When the quartz gem didn’t say anything, he spoke up. “Yeah, it was after I healed her but then Jasper stopped it from happening.”

“Why?” Garnet asked.

Jasper had no doubt in her mind that the fusion knew why, she just wanted the quartz gem to say it. “I would have corrupted him.”

“How do you know?” The question came from Pearl this time.

“Because I became corrupted.” Jasper didn’t have the slightest clue why they were questioning her on why she _didn’t_ fuse with Steven. They were all looking at her expectantly. She did the right thing, not fusing with Steven. Didn’t she?

Garnet pushed up her visors and looked off in the distance. “I think you should still try.”

Jasper’s head whirled to stare at the fusion. Had the sapphire completely given control to the ruby regarding intelligence? She looked at the others but none of their faces showed any grievances to what Garnet had said. Pearl did look hesitant but for once didn’t voice her objections. Amethyst and Steven had encouraging smiles but that only confused Jasper even more. They’ve seen first-hand what had happened to her when she fused with a corrupted gem! And now they wanted to fuse with her? The quartz gem felt like her head was too full and she ran a hand through her hair. She looked back at Garnet who gave the tiniest nods. Shoulders deflating in defeat, Jasper grunted, “Fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the end! I know this chapter is a bit more fastpaced than the others and I'm sorry for that. I'm getting really excited (and a little nervous) about the next chapters. Hopefully, I'll get them posted soon


	22. Let's Try This Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own the song "Love Like You" If you haven't heard it before, it's quite lovely and from the Steven Universe soundtrack.

It took two hours for everyone to get ready outside of the beach house. Even Lapis and Peridot came, however Jasper wished that they had stayed at the barn. This wasn’t something that was going to be easy and would most likely result in failure or at the very least bring out memories that were best left alone. Jasper spent the time waiting leaning against the wooden rail of the patio and watching the gems argue amongst each other how to best approach this complicated situation. The quartz gem didn’t voice her own opinion of how ludicrous this entire idea was. She held her tongue and observed the others with Lion sitting down next to her, occasionally rubbing his head against her arm when Jasper forget to pet him.

            The gems settled on Jasper trying to fuse with Amethyst after much heated debate from everyone, saved from Lapis and Peridot, who just looked uncomfortable. Steven waved up to Jasper, signaling that they were ready. Jasper walked down the steps, each one adding more weight to her shoulders. She reached the group and kept her eyes everywhere but Lapis and Peridot. The quartz gem didn’t want them to see how uneasy she was.

“Okay, just so everyone is clear; Jasper is going to attempt to fuse with Amethyst.” Pearl cleared her throat, apparently as tense as Jasper at the aspect of the quartz gem attempting to fuse with Amethyst. She looked at the purple gem, her face guarded but her stance betrayed her discomfort. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Amethyst grinned and smashed her fist into her hand. “Yeah, I want to do this!” She smiled at Jasper, the excitement obvious on her face. “I’ve never fused with another quartz before.” Her eyes flashed to Steven and she corrected herself. “Well, a quartz from earth I mean.” Amethyst looked back at Jasper and held out her hand. “Let’s do this!”

Jasper made a noncommittal sound in the back of her throat and grabbed Amethyst’s offered hand. She twirled the purple gem around, much like she did with Lapis when they fused to form Malachite, but it felt all wrong. Amethyst’s movements were too erratic and… lewd. Jasper frowned and tried to follow Amethyst’s steps but they couldn’t connect. It was like they were operating on two vastly different wavelengths. Jasper was surprisingly slow and graceful in her dance style, but Amethyst was fast and everchanging. Both quartz gems were starting to lose their patience at how the other wasn’t complimenting their dancing. As a last-ditch effort, Jasper dipped Amethyst but the purple gem had the same idea. They ended up falling on one another, an elbow jabbing Jasper in the ribs and a knee stabbing into Amethyst’s back. Jasper got up with a groan and rubbed at her bruised flesh. “This isn’t going to work,” she said, hating how a part of her was relieved that she didn’t fuse with Amethyst. Her eyes stayed glued to the ground, refusing to look up at the gems that surely knew this would happen.

“You’re right,” Garnet agreed. She watched the two attempt to synchronize their dancing with a deep frown. “You don’t know anything about what fusion truly is.”

Despite herself, Jasper glanced up at Lapis and saw that the blue gem did the same.

Garnet caught the shared glance and tilted her head to the right. “Are you sure?” The voice was rougher than what Garnet usually sounded and Jasper could see Steven slowly smile from behind the fusion. Garnet nodded to herself with a grin. “I’m sure.” This voice was softer and more feminine.

The fusion lost her physical form to a blob of white light that split off in two, each with a gem. The blobs moved away from one another and reformed to create Sapphire and Ruby. Jasper’s eyes widened as Steven yelled out their names and ran over to hug both of them at the same time. She didn’t think the two would ever unfuse on purpose.

When Steven pulled back from the hug, Ruby looked up at Jasper. “Sapphire’s better at explaining this stuff.” She moved back with Steven and Sapphire had everyone’s attention.

Sapphire ignored the eyes and only looked at Jasper. “You weren’t able to fuse with Amethyst.”

“Obviously,” Jasper couldn’t stop the growl of frustration from creeping into her voice.

The rare gem did not pay any attention to the growl, but Ruby narrowed her eyes and Steven had to take a step back from the heat suddenly coming off the red gem. Sapphire continued like Jasper had never spoken. “Fusion is the intermingling of two gems’ consciousness into one being. You are no longer just Jasper or Amethyst, you are both at the same time. It cannot be taken lightly and it cannot happen between two strangers. The partners must know each other intimately, whether it is between friends,” Sapphire gestured to Amethyst and Jasper, “family,” she nodded towards Amethyst and Steven,” or lovers,” Sapphire finished with a smile to Ruby who blushed in return. “You must have a true understanding of one another for fusion to work properly. If not, then the fusion is doomed to fail and the partners will most likely be traumatized by the event.”

Jasper knew that the words brought Malachite to everyone’s mind. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lapis hold onto her arms like a barrier and Peridot resting a comforting hand on her side. Jasper felt the urge to make the sapphire stop talking but she pushed it down. She can’t lose control right now, not in front of Lapis and Peridot.

“Watch as I demonstrate. Ruby?” Sapphire held out a hand and Ruby took it without hesitation. The two danced in a small circle and Jasper heard them humming a soothing tune. They were smiling at one another like no one else existed and Ruby reached up to move Sapphire’s bangs away from her eye. Sapphire laughed at the action and the two melted into one another.

Garnet reappeared without her visors, joyful laughter still bubbling up. She looked at Jasper with all three eyes, each one flowing with the love Sapphire and Ruby had for one another. “Do you understand now?”

Jasper nodded, “I think so, yeah.” She doubted that she could ever achieve something like that but she was going to try. Jaspers never give up after all.

Steven had sudden inspiration from the humming and took out his phone. He tapped at the screen eagerly for a bit and he brought up the mixtape he had made with Connie a few months ago. The boy turned up the volume to its highest setting and smiled at Jasper. “Music might help you synchronize your dancing,” he suggested.

Jasper listened to the song for a moment and her eyes shifted towards Lapis without her knowledge. Steven saw how the quartz gem looked at Lapis and smiled. He grabbed the water gem’s hand and walked her over to Jasper, ignoring how each of Lapis’s step was a little jerky, like she was being moved by an amateur puppeteer. Jasper and Lapis said nothing when they were in front of each other and Steven beamed at the two of them. “You two should try to fuse! You did it before but now that you’re friends it will be better this time.”

The quartz gem felt a distressed whine rise in her throat and choked it down. She saw the knowing glint in Steven’s eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing even though it was obvious that the two should never try to fuse again. Jasper wondered if it was Rose Quartz that was whispering poisonous ideas into his head. Still, when Jasper looked at Lapis, she realized that the water gem was the only one who she would attempt fusion with, except for Peridot. She held out a hand and Lapis laid her shaking one in it. Jasper closed her fingers protectively around Lapis’s and placed her other hand on her shoulder, she was too tall to rest it on her waist comfortably. Lapis looked down and laid her hand on Jasper’s waist, her breath catching a bit at the knowledge of what they were about to do.

Jasper let Lapis lead her in a slow circle. It was worse than her dancing with Amethyst. They were synchronized but everything was so tense, both gems weary of their possible fusion. Jasper felt Lapis’s nails dig into her side but she didn’t say anything, she was sure that her own hand was clenched too tightly on Lapis’s shoulder. A new song came on and Jasper focused on the words instead of how Lapis not once looked at her when they began dancing.

 “If I could be half of what you think of me,” Jasper’s and Lapis’s dancing slowed to the time of the music. “I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love.” Jasper almost jumped at the singing voice, reflexively relaxing her grip on Lapis. “When I see the way you act, wondering when I’m coming back,” Jasper barely noticed how Lapis stopped clenching her side so tight, “I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love like you.”

Jasper spun Lapis and felt something akin to joy at the sight of her lover twirling, a smile gracing her lips despite the apprehensive situation they found themselves in. “I always thought I might be bad, now I’m sure it’s true.” When the quartz gem pulled her back to her, Lapis gently stroked Jasper’s side before resting a hand on it, apologizing for the marks that would probably be there tomorrow. Jasper answered with a soft swipe of her thumb against Lapis’s shoulder where her fingers had gripped her before. “Cause I think you’re so good and I’m nothing like you.”

Lapis tilted her head up so she could look at Jasper. The quartz gem met her gaze and would have kissed the water gem if it weren’t for the present company. It was strange; since they began dancing, Jasper didn’t notice the others until now. But she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Lapis’s blue ones.

“Look at you go. I just adore you. I wish that I knew what makes you think I’m so special.”

            Jasper spun Lapis again and could see her gem glow softly on her back, like the embers of a cozy fire. She glanced down and saw that her own gem was glowing. “If I could do something right by you.” The quartz gem’s eyes flashed back to Lapis and for a moment, they were back to the wreckage of her ship months ago. She was supposed to dip her now and they would form Malachite. And she would be her prisoner. “I would do about anything.” Jasper whimpered and dropped Lapis’s hand. She turned her body before she could see the shock and pain on Lapis’s face. “I would even learn how to love.”

            The song continued on, unperturbed by the turn of events. Jasper held onto herself, releasing a shaky breath and turning her head so she could look at the spot next to Lapis’s left foot. “I’m sorry. I’m not-”

            “Don’t,” Lapis interrupted, taking a step closer to Jasper and touching her arm lightly. “It’s okay.” She removed her hand and clenched her fists, all too aware of how everyone was staring at them. Her eyes shut tightly and two wings made of water sprouted from her gem. Lapis opened them again and saw that Jasper had turned her body around to look at her, sadness on her face. The expression shot a jagged piece of ice into Lapis’s soul and she couldn’t look at her anymore. Lapis jumped up into the air and took off in the direction of the barn without saying anything to anyone.

            Jasper watched the gem she almost fused with fly away, guilt clawing at her sides. She shouldn’t have just stop dancing like that. It was different now, they would be good together. Wouldn’t they? Jasper sighed and looked at Peridot who met her eyes with her own dejected ones. The green gem didn’t have any comforting words to offer but she did walk over and touched the red stripe on Jasper’s right arm. Jasper felt a little better at the physical contact and nodded her thanks. She walked over to Steven who had his head angled to the beach sand, the forgotten phone still singing in his hands. He looked up when she was near and Jasper could tell immediately that Steven blamed himself for Lapis leaving. Before he could apologize as well, she pointed to the phone. “I want to borrow that.”

            Steven glanced at the phone and held it up to her without asking any questions. It was the least he could do for the trouble he caused. Steven couldn’t help but flinch when Jasper took the phone and raised her free hand. His eyes clamp shut but snapped back open as he felt her hand ruffle his hair, a little harder than what Garnet usually did but it was still nice. The boy felt tears prickle the back of his eyes and he smiled up at the once corrupted gem. She really had changed.

            The group watched the two with baited breath but visibly relaxed once Steven smiled. Jasper held the phone gingerly in her hand, knowing that she could accidently crush it quite easily. “Stay here for the night,” she said to Peridot.

            Just like she expected, the green gem protested instantly. “What!? I’m not staying here with these clods!” Garnet and Steven both chuckled at the word. They wondered how long it would take for Peridot to call them that again. Peridot gazed at the direction of the barn with uncertainty but hardened her expression with determination. “It’s my home too, you know. If there’s damage control, I want to be there to help.”

            Jasper looked at the green gem for a long time, but her eyes softened. “Fine,” she grunted, secretly glad that Peridot would be coming. Just knowing that the technician would be close made Jasper more levelheaded and calm. “You can help me set up.”

            “Set up for what?”  

            “You’ll see,” was all Jasper responded with. The two started their walk to the barn, but not before Jasper spied Garnet giving them a thumbs-up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yes, I went there. Heads up next chapter is going to contain sexual content! Just an FYI!


	23. One More Time, Please

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING; SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENT BETWEEN CONSENSUAL GEMS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Lapis hugged her knees to her chest, a frustrated groan slipping between her lips. She shouldn’t have left like that. Jasper must think that this was all her fault. Why wouldn’t she, Lapis was the one who trapped her as Malachite for all that time. It should’ve been obvious that Jasper’s first reattempt at fusion would end disastrous if it was with her. Lapis held her knees tighter to her body, trying to banish all thought. Her eyes followed the floating alien in the tank mindlessly. They would have to replace it soon, the fish were starting to attack the stuffing and had already pulled most of it out.

The sound of a soft song playing brought Lapis back to the barn. She turned her head and looked at the closed barn door with a frown. There was flickering light peeking out from the small gap where the door met the floor. Lapis got up on her feet and walked slowly to it, intent on telling Peridot to please let her be. It already took a lot of effort for Lapis to stay at the barn and not fly off somewhere.

The music grew louder as Lapis approached the door. She laid a hand on the wood and struggled to fight back the impulse of running away again. Steeling her resolve, Lapis pushed open the barn door, the words asking whoever was out there to please leave on her lips.

Jasper immediately looked up when she heard the barn door open. She was just about to set down the phone to get Lapis herself. Beside her was a homemade fire cackling quietly. It took some time for Jasper to find all the stones to make a proper pit and more to set up the fire. Luckily, Amethyst had ran into the beach house to fetch some logs that Jasper could use and an iron poker since she could no longer move the burning logs by hand.

Lapis still held the door but she couldn’t make herself speak the words or move. She settled on staring at the iron poker in Jasper’s hand, reminded of the gem destabilizer. The water gem shook herself to forget the thought and looked about. She could just see Peridot’s silhouette in the distance and the sight of it comforted her.

“Lapis,” Jasper said, breaking the silence. She set the iron poker carelessly near the fire and strolled over to the gem. She made sure to keep her usually long strides shorter so she wouldn’t scare off the gem. Lapis lifted her eyes from the dim light emitting from the phone to look at Jasper, discomfort clear on her features. Jasper wanted to cup Lapis’s cheek and tell her everything was going to be okay but she held her arms to her sides, knowing that both of them were too smart to believe that.

Lapis let go of the barn door to cross her arms, her eyes hardening with ease from practice. She didn’t like setting up the walls around her heart but she didn’t know what else to do. “What do you want?” she asked, her voice almost stoic if not for the touch of melancholy.

Jasper took her time to think of the right words before answering. “I want us to dance. Just one more try.” She did lift a hand to brush against Lapis’s cheek, smiling softly when the water gem leaned into the touch. “Please, Lapis.”

Blue eyes closed and a sound of weariness rose from Lapis’s throat. She was so conflicted at the moment. It would have been easier if the two were still at the beach house, surrounded by the other gems, but Lapis just had to fly off and Jasper just had to come running after her. Lapis opened her eyes and laid a hand on the orange one still touching her cheek. “Just one?” she whispered.

“Just one,” Jasper agreed. She led Lapis outside slowly, making sure that each step the water gem took was on her own accord. Jasper wasn’t going to force this on her. “You can make us stop anytime you want,” she said, resting a hand on Lapis’s shoulder, much like before.

Lapis nodded and placed her hand on Jasper’s waist, reaching up with the other one to grab Jasper’s free hand. They laced their fingers and Lapis was almost taken aback by how much bigger Jasper’s hand was compared to hers. The quartz gem could only squeeze lightly and Lapis’s hand would be crushed, but Jasper’s grip was relaxed and gentle. She gulped down her fear and took a step back, Jasper following. Lapis lead the dance this time and like before, found her worries melt away as the song took its hold on their bodies. She ignored the words and focused only on how she felt at that moment. The water gem felt safe with Jasper looming over her, holding her like she was a flower. She wasn’t afraid of Jasper anymore, of what they might become. Lapis smiled at the realization.  

Jasper noticed the smile and sported her own grin, bending over to dip Lapis. When she pulled her back up, she started to hum to the melody of the song. It was nice, and the fact that it was made by humans almost made it even more interesting. Jasper lazily spun Lapis in a circle, her eyes taking in how the flickering light of the fire seemed to dance on her skin and dress. She wondered for a moment how it would look on Peridot’s skin, her eyes glancing up to the shadow of the green gem. Peridot stayed where she was, giving them space to be alone. Jasper appreciated the gesture and made a mental note to pay back the green gem. She looked down and as the song began its last chorus, lifted Lapis up and spun around on the spot. The water gem wrapped her arms around Jasper’s neck on instinct, a carefree laugh bubbling up from inside her. Jasper responded with her own chuckle before pressing her lips against Lapis’s as the song ended. Lapis returned the kiss, her fingers tangling themselves in Jasper’s hair. It was so much softer than she had first expected and the way Jasper whimpered made her want to never let go.

Lapis was the one who broke the kiss, frowning. Jasper was starting to set her down when the arms tightened around her neck in protest, so she continued to hold the smaller gem. “What’s wrong?”

‘We didn’t fuse.” Lapis sounded so confused. She stared at the gem that poked out from under Jasper’s shirt. It was bright and shiny as before, but not glowing at the hint of fusion. Lapis reached between them to stroke the gem, not missing how Jasper’s breath hitched at the act. She looked back up and read the beginnings of arousal in the quartz’s eyes but it was overpowered by the concern. “We didn’t fuse,” Lapis repeated, as if saying the words again would give her the answer.

“I didn’t want to.” The honesty of the answer shocked both gems. Jasper sighed and set Lapis down, the water gem letting go of her neck this time. “I do want to fuse with you,” she tried explaining, “but not now. Not when she can happen again.”

“She?” Lapis asked, already knowing who Jasper was referring to.

“Malachite,” Jasper growled, the name dripping in contempt. She raked her fingers through her hair, struggling to get her thoughts in order to speak. She made so many mistakes but that fusion was the biggest and ugliest one. “Those gems,” she didn’t call them traitors but she couldn’t bring herself to call them by Crystal Gems, “they showed me that I can be Jasper, just Jasper. As Malachite, it was like I lost myself but not like fusion should be.” Jasper gestured in the direction of the beach house. “They say how it’s supposed to be so wonderful, and the sapphire and ruby stay fused as the garnet all the time but when we were Malachite, there was nothing great about it.” Jasper wanted to stop and she knew Lapis did too by the grimace tugging her lips but she couldn’t. “We were so angry at each other and that anger fused our forms together like some fucked up glue. There was no me or you; there was only our hatred and fighting to gain dominance over one another. I was your prisoner and you hurt me so much but I took it because I was weak.” Jasper paced back and forth in front of Lapis, she couldn’t stay in one place. The water gem however stood like she was frozen to the spot, her eyes following the quartz gem. “I didn’t realize how wrong it was!” Jasper continued. “How wrong Malachite was! I don’t want to ever feel like that again.” Her feet halted and she turned to face Lapis, her eyes desperate for something, anything that the water gem could give her to sooth the wound their fusion made. But Lapis’s eyes only reflected that desperation. Jasper took Lapis’s hands into her own, staring at them like they were the only thing that mattered in all the universe. She lifted her eyes to hold Lapis’s. “I don’t want _you_ to ever look at me like that again,” Jasper finished, giving Lapis’s hands the barest of squeezes.   

Lapis didn’t know what to do or say. Hearing everything, having Jasper reveal the final shard that Lapis had thrusted into her heart, made Lapis’s throat close up. She caused this, all of it. And yet, Jasper was still here, touching her with not an ounce of malice. And if she turned her head, Lapis could see Peridot who stayed even after Lapis tried her hardest to make her leave. Lapis looked down at the hands. “I don’t understand,” she whispered at last.

“I don’t either,” Jasper admitted. She let go of Lapis’s right hand in favor of running her fingers through the water gem’s hair. She leaned down to kiss Lapis again, realizing that the song was playing again in a loop. Jasper broke the kiss to retrieve the phone, aware of the strain in the front of her pants. She grabbed Lapis’s hand and smirked down at her. “Inside,” she beckoned.

The two entered the barn and not bothering to close the door, climbed up the ladder, or rather Lapis did, Jasper jumped. The quartz gem was sitting cross legged on the mattress, waiting for Lapis impatiently. As soon as the water gem came within touching distance, Jasper pulled her into her lap. Lapis blushed at how her skirt was pushed to her hips. Jasper felt her chest rumble with a purr of satisfaction and quickly pressed her lips to Lapis’s neck. She groaned at the sounds her tongue and teeth brought forth from Lapis and the hands tugging at her hair. Jasper let her fangs brush against the hollow of Lapis’s throat and growled at the sharp intake of breath from Lapis. She kissed the spot where her fangs threatened the skin and moved down, having to lift the water gem to press her lips on each available spot of skin. When her lips brushed against fabric, Jasper grabbed one of the laces at the back of the top and pulled, feeling the clothing suddenly go slack. She pulled down the rest to expose Lapis’s breasts, eagerly taking her right nipple into her mouth and palming the unattended breast. Lapis cooed as her hips bucked up, feeling the heat in between them rise to uncomfortable levels. The water gem hissed in pleasure as she felt Jasper graze the tip with a sharp fang. Lapis tugged at Jasper’s shirt, silently begging the bigger gem to phase out of her uniform. The responding chuckle would have made Lapis roll her eyes but she couldn’t concentrate on the action as one of Jasper’s hands glide lower to play with the tops of her skirt. “Please,” she breathed, rocking her hips up in hopes to get the quartz gem to touch her intimately.

Jasper felt herself begin to lose control at the plea. She let go of Lapis’s nipple with a wet pop, her chest rumbling with a growl. The quartz gem wrapped her arms around Lapis and tried to flip them over so she had better leverage but blue hands slammed into her chest. Jasper was so shocked that she was knocked down with Lapis staring widely down at her. “No!” the water gem screamed. Jasper gaped at the water gem, her chest rising and falling rapidly as adrenaline coarse through her veins. She gripped at the mattress beneath her to stop herself from attacking Lapis.

Lapis realized what she had done and shakily brought her hands back to herself, the arousal that was building inside her doused by her own actions. She shook her head as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. “I’m sorry, I just- I have to be on top.” Lapis wiped at her eyes before any of the tears escaped, hating how Jasper followed the movement of her hands like she was about to summon chains made of water. “I wasn’t thinking. I-I have to have control.”

There were no other sounds between them after Lapis’s confession for a very long time. The natural noise of night life pervaded their bubble of tension. Jasper was the first to react; she leaned up slowly and gently pulled Lapis’s hands away from her face. “Look at me,” she whispered. It took a few moments but blue eyes cautiously met golden. Jasper brushed away a stray tear from Lapis’s cheek. “It’s okay, Lapis.” She leaned forward to kiss the shell of Lapis’s ear and whisper into it afterwards, “I’m here.” Jasper laid back down and with a grunt of concentration, phased away her uniform. Lapis couldn’t stop the gasp from escaping at feeling Jasper’s naked body underneath her own. Jasper rest her hands on Lapis’s hips, smiling up at the water gem. “You won’t hurt me.”

Lapis gulped at the trust in Jasper’s eyes and nodded. She took a deep breath and phased away her own clothing, groaning at how Jasper’s tentacle immediately prodded at her sex. Lapis had to reach down and guide the head to her entrance and sank down. She stopped when it was halfway inside her, placing a hand on Jasper’s abdomen to steady herself. Lapis had no idea how Peridot could take all of the quartz gem! She already felt so full and Jasper wasn’t all the way in.

“You don’t have to take it all, you know,” Jasper said, apparently reading Lapis’s thoughts on her face. She rocked her hips up and groaned, her head falling back in pleasure. “This is more than enough for me,” she murmured.

“I don’t want it to be,” Lapis said back, moving up and down to get more of Jasper in her. She wasn’t about to tell Jasper she couldn’t take her, especially after Peridot did. Lapis loved the green gem but there was no way she was going to let her beat her at this. The water gem whimpered as she felt herself get stretched but she didn’t stop rocking up and down until her hips pressed firmly against Jasper’s.

The quartz gem didn’t try to stop Lapis, in fact she was curious to see how far the water gem was willing to go. She watched Lapis slowly sheath her and the sight made her want to fuck the water gem as hard and as fast as she could. Jasper knew it the primal side speaking to her and she pushed it down. Lapis needed this; she needed to be the one that dictated how much pleasure each gem felt and know that Jasper was willingly giving her this power. Jasper realized with a start that she needed this too; she needed to give her trust to someone to do right by her. Lapis rocked her hips down, one of her hands reaching up to press at Jasper’s gem with her fingertips. The quartz gem squeezed her eyes shut as a moan was ripped from her throat. “Yes,” she growled, feeling herself rise ever closer to her peak.

Lapis must have noticed it too because she sped up her rocking. She had no idea how amazing it was to have a gem like Jasper under her and do so freely. The water gem gasped and had to rest both hands on Jasper’s chest for better leverage. She blushed at the sounds she was making but she couldn’t stop making them. Lapis groaned and sank down fully on the tentacle as she fell off her edge. She stayed still and allowed Jasper to fill her as the quartz gem found her own release.

Once the orgasms faded, Lapis collapsed on top of the bigger gem, smirking at the sweat that clung to both their bodies. She peeked up at Jasper and did roll her eyes at the smug look on the quartz gem’s face. “We should get Peridot,” she murmured, not wanting to leave the mattress ever.

Jasper nodded and wrapped an arm around Lapis possessively. “Peridot!” she roared, too lazy to get up to search for the green gem. They heard a crash and a string of low mutterings as Peridot ambled into the barn. The technician continued to mutter under her breath even after she climbed the ladder to look at the two but Jasper and Lapis could read the arousal poorly hidden in Peridot’s eyes. Jasper made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat and pulled Peridot down, much like she did to Lapis before.

“Unhand me you striped clod!” Peridot yelled out after falling ungracefully near Jasper’s side. She sat up to glare at the quartz gem who chuffled at the reaction.

“If you want to sleep by yourself then that’s fine,” Jasper said calmly. “But I’m staying here with Lapis so you’ll sleep outside.”

For her credit, Peridot actually seemed to consider her options before flopping back down, turning her back on the two. Lapis grinned and ran her fingers along Peridot’s side. “You’re wearing too much clothing.” Peridot turned her head to glare daggers at Lapis but phased out of her uniform. “Good,” Lapis said. The water gem carefully got off of Jasper, much to the quartz gem’s disagreement, to search for a blanket to cover the three. After having to endure Jasper’s constant shivering from the first night, Lapis borrowed one of Steven’s old blankets in case the quartz gem ever slept over again. She used the term borrowed loosely as she had no intention of bringing it back unless Steven explicitly asked her to. Just when Lapis started to worry that Pearl had found out about the blanket and stolen it back without her knowledge, she saw a blue corner stick up from behind some paint cans. She grabbed the blanket and made her way back up to the mattress, smirking when she saw what Jasper and Peridot were up to.

Peridot let out a mew as her body bowed into Jasper’s fingers, a hand already tangled in the quartz gem’s locks. Jasper wore a haughty grin as she plunged her middle finger inside the squirming gem up to the knuckle, the digit almost filling her. She was careful of the claw inside Peridot but less so of the ones on the hand holding the technician’s right leg down. They scratched at the skin, never breaking it but leaving deep green lines, and instead of making noises of pain, Peridot would gasp and stutter, her hips jolting up at each new scrape. Jasper turned her head to look at Lapis and jerked her head, inviting the blue gem.

Lapis dropped the blanket so it could lay on the floor, forgotten, as she crawled towards Peridot. The smaller gem had an eye peeked open to watch Lapis, the other shut tight in pleasure. Lapis shared a quick kiss with Peridot, drinking the loud moan Jasper pulled out of her with a curl of her finger. The water gem made her way down Peridot’s body to kiss and suck at her nipples, a hand reaching down to rub at her clit.

“T-too much!” Peridot gasped, her back arching. She didn’t know what to focus on, Lapis’s lips, her fingers, Jasper’s arrogant smirk, or the finger buried inside her. She felt too hot and yet not hot enough. Her hips were frantically thrusting into their hands, her body winding up rapidly to snap. Peridot looked at both of them and tried to tell them what was happening but the words were choked by a keening whine. Her fingers tightened their hold on Jasper’s hair as her free hand grabbed the back of Lapis’s head. The two seemed to know what Peridot was trying to convey because they redoubled their efforts.

The green gem didn’t last long after that. With another curl of Jasper’s finger, Peridot gave a whimper as her body locked up. She rode out the orgasm as best and as quiet as she could, but her body wouldn’t stop trembling and her mouth wouldn’t stop praising their names. As the orgasm ebbed away, she laid down to catch her breath. Peridot looked up to see Lapis sucking Jasper’s finger clean of her slick. The way that the quartz gem’s eyes bulged showed that even she was surprised by the water gem’s bold actions.

Before long, the two bigger gems joined Peridot; Jasper laying on one side and Lapis the other. “That was fast,” Jasper commented, her words suspicious. Peridot only blushed and the quartz gem knew immediately why. “You were listening on us,” she accused with a glare, but her eyes only held affection.

“Quartz clod,” Peridot muttered, turning around to face Lapis. But the water gem sported a knowing smirk of her own. “Water clod.” The technician gave an aggravated groan and laid on her back, frowning up at the ceiling. Both Jasper and Lapis noticed that Peridot didn’t actually deny anything. Lapis laughed and kissed Peridot’s cheek. Sometimes the small gem was too adorable for her own good. Jasper also leaned down to kiss her other cheek, chuckling when a hand swatted at her.

Jasper yawned and bent up to grab the blanket Lapis had brought. She covered the three of them, surprised that the thing was big enough for them. The quartz gem reached over to pull the two closer to her, her chest reverberating with a purr. “Night,” she told the two as she rested her head on her arm. Before sleep took her, she heard Lapis whisper a thank you to Peridot and Peridot replying with a kiss.

 


	24. Uh Oh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So uh I should probably put this out there: this is the last arc I suppose you'll call it of this story. We're nearing the end guys and gals! Thank you all for your support, I wouldn't get this far without it! I think I found an ending that will leave me and readers (hopefully) satisfied. I'm still playing with it so updates may not come in a timely manner (when have they ever, am I right? Oh man I need a stricter schedule for writing). I hope you all enjoy these last few chapters!

An irritated growl rumbled in Jasper’s chest as her nose picked up a new scent. She was still laying on the mattress, Peridot and Lapis curled up on either side of her. They were the only reason Jasper wasn’t snarling at the intruder. She moved her head so that it was resting on Lapis’s shoulder and glared at Garnet who was climbing the ladder. How dare the fusion interrupt their bliss? Jasper hissed at her and felt Lapis shift under her chin, waking up. She felt Peridot do the same and realized that the two must have fallen asleep with her. She couldn’t blame them, they were exhausted after last night’s lovemaking session.

            Garnet reached the second floor of the barn and took a tiny step towards the three. Jasper responded with another growl, her arms tightening around the two. If the fusion took another step, she would take it as Garnet challenging her. She knew firsthand how difficult it was to fight Garnet but if the fusion thought that she could waltz in here and take her two mates away… Jasper finished the thought with a hiss.

            “Calm down, Jasper” Garnet said, unfazed by the quartz gem’s reactions. She lived with Jasper long enough to recognize that she tended to have less control over her animal instincts in the morning as her mind woke up. To make Jasper more comfortable with her presence, she turned her head to look at the wall to her right. Garnet would have given the three some warning before coming unannounced and most likely unwanted, but she couldn’t waste a moment. “Something’s wrong with the warp pads.”

            “War pas?” Peridot repeated sleepily, rubbing her eyes. She leaned up to look around and noticed Garnet standing awkwardly stiff near the ladder. The technician let out a squeak and phased on her uniform. Jasper looked at her with confused and disappointed eyes. Peridot realized with a start that the quartz gem wasn’t all the way there and scoot away from her before Jasper could do something animalistic and gross like licking her cheek.

Lapis was the last to wake up but she didn’t bother clothing herself when she saw Garnet. In fact, she wore a smug smirk and snuggled closer to the two. She couldn’t deny that she felt glee at the fact that Garnet saw Peridot with the two of them. When she noticed the tense body holding her however, the smirk slid off her face and she turned around to face Jasper. A cupped cheek brought the quartz’s attention to her and Lapis kissed her swiftly. “It’s okay, Jasper.” Some of the stiffness left Jasper but she still glared at Garnet.

“We need Peridot to see what is happening,” Garnet continued, either unaware or not outwardly reacting to the three gems.

The three looked at one another and Lapis sighed, phasing on her clothes. Jasper followed Lapis’s example and lend a hand to Lapis and Peridot when they got off the mattress. Now that she was more awake, she was no longer growling or glaring at the fusion but rather feeling an animalistic elation that Garnet knew the other two were marked and taken. Jasper knew that she sported her own pattering of love bites and scratches but that just made everything all the better. Anyone who looked at the three would see that they were not for the taking.

The four walked to the temple in silence. Jasper made sure to walk in between Garnet and the other two. The fusion seemed to find that amusing because she wouldn’t wipe that small grin off her face. Jasper hated seeing that smile, it meant Garnet knew something that she didn’t. When they reached the temple, Pearl was outside waiting for them. The gem wouldn’t stop pacing on the deck. As soon as Garnet walked up the stairs, Pearl thread her arm through hers, trying to seek strength from the fusion. Jasper raised an eyebrow and wondered if Amethyst knew about this.

“Told you Pearl was with Garnet,” Lapis whispered to Peridot as they entered the beach house. She was trying to make light of everything but Jasper could tell that she was unnerved by the way her eyes went straight to Steven who was sitting on one of the stools with Amethyst next to him. The relief in them made Jasper rest a comforting hand on the small of her back and a green hand bumped into hers. Apparently, Peridot had the same idea and that made Jasper feel a bit better. At least they knew they could count on one another to alleviate the fear and stress.

            Amethyst hopped off her stool and walked to the three. “Hey, sis, Laps, Peri,” she said in greeting, the nicknames subdued by the concern in her voice. “Pearl’s making a big deal about the warp pads being broken but you can fix them, right Peridot?” Jasper noticed how her eyes flitted away from the trio to rest on Pearl and Garnet every so often, but there was no jealousy in them. The quartz gem began to wonder if they were in a relationship much like her own. If it was true, then Connie’s comment of Steven having three moms instead of one would make a lot more sense.

            “It’s more primitive than what I’m used to but I’m sure I can fix it without too much difficulty.” Peridot walked to the warp pad and kneeled down in front of it. She placed her hands on the surface and her eyes flashed red. Peridot frowned and grumbled to herself, reading information that was displayed on her eyes. She smiled in triumph. “Here we go!” The eyes became green for a second before flashing red. “That’s strange. Let me try this.” The eyes still flashed warning red. “No, no I got it now.” Peridot’s eyes were green for a millisecond and the gem growled in frustration as it flashed red. “Maybe this?” Nothing happened. “Oh, come on!” The others didn’t know what the technician was doing to the warp pad’s system but soon a hand started to smack the surface. “I am a Era Two Peridot and you will do as I say!” Peridot tried a few more things before she got up. She kicked the warp pad with an angry yell. “Work, damn you!” The technician took a moment to calm down before looking at the group. “I can’t fix it.”

            “What do you mean you can’t fix it!?” Pearl tightened her hold on Garnet’s arm, too upset to even comment on Peridot’s swearing.

            Peridot scowled at the warp pad and crossed her arms. “I can’t fix it,” she repeated. She tapped at her chin as she tried to explain for everyone. “I can’t say for sure but I believe that they were deactivated.”

            “Warp pads can be deactivated?” Steven interrupted. Peridot nodded, eyeing the warp pad in distaste.

Amethyst tapped the side of the warp pad with her foot. “Well, then reactivate them, Peri.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do, you clod.” The troubled look on the technician’s face took the sting out of her insult. “A gem must have sent a virus to the warp pad’s system to disrupt the connections it has to the other warp pad systems on earth. In other words, I can’t fix it, even if I had my robonoids.” She turned to looked at the warp pad fully, her eyes trying to find anything that could make it work again.

“Who would be able to do something like that?” Steven asked.

It was Jasper that answered and she clenched her fists. “Homeworld. They must have gone really deep into earth’s files to find the access codes to do this.” She looked at the others, seeing understanding only on Peridot’s and Garnet’s faces. “They don’t want us to hop from one area of earth to another. They want to isolate us here.”

Amethyst played with her hands. “Why would they do that?” Jasper knew that Amethyst already had the answer but was too afraid to ask if she was right.

“Homeworld wants to take us all out,” Garnet spoke up, a hand raising to push up her visor. Jasper hid the shock she felt at how it trembled slightly. “With us forced to stay at one corner of the earth, they don’t have to send a search party to locate us.”

“We have nowhere to hide,” Pearl whispered, a hand covering her mouth.

Steven jumped off his stool, unable to keep still. “I don’t understand. Why are they still attacking us? Shouldn’t they just leave us alone?” He gestured to Peridot. “The Cluster! You told Yellow Diamond that the Cluster was going to emerge soon and destroy the earth so why are they bothering us now?”

Jasper couldn’t hide her shock at Steven’s words. “You spoke with Yellow Diamond?” How could Peridot keep that from her? She glanced down and saw the same reaction on Lapis’s face. From her too?

Peridot hesitated, shame spreading across her features, and nodded meekly. “I didn’t want to disappoint you two.” Her fingers played with one another as she fought to say the words. “At the time, I was still loyal to Yellow Diamond and I was going to report the Crystal Gem’s existence. But I didn’t!” she hurriedly said. The rest nodded as testament to Peridot’s words. “When I realized that she didn’t care about the life on earth and the endless possibilities here, I forsake my allegiance with her.” Peridot had a funny look on her face, pride mixed with regret. “I also might have called her a clod,” she admitted.

“WHAT!?” Jasper roared. Lion, who had been snoozing on Jasper’s couch the whole time, yowled and jumped up, landing on the floor, his claws extended to attack the enemy. When he saw nothing, he sat on his haunches to watch as Jasper shook her head in disbelief. “How could you do something so fucking stupid, Peridot!?” When the technician winced at the yell, Jasper felt guilt clawing at her insides. She took a deep breath and held up her hands. “Wait, don’t, I-I’m sorry.” She walked to Peridot and gently cupped her cheek. “I shouldn’t have yelled like that.”

Peridot leaned into the touch and smiled weakly at her. “No, you’re right. It was really idiotic of me to call her a clod to her face.” She covered Jasper’s hand with her own, as much as she could anyway. “I know you didn’t mean it.”

Jasper let her hand fall back to her side and stood up. Lapis watched the two and gave them a comforting grin. Everyone’s attention focused on Pearl when she gave a groan. She was too busy thinking on Steven’s question to pay any mind to Jasper’s outburst. “Why didn’t we see this coming?” She unthread her arm from Garnet’s and started to pace back and forth. “Of course they would try to do something like this! Not only did one of their ships never report back but a Lapis Lazuli, a rare and powerful gem even by Era One standards, and one of the most decorated warriors have gone missing.” She glanced up at the spot that Jasper was no longer standing in, only now realizing that she had moved.

Steven spoke up, still watching Jasper and Peridot wearily. He didn’t expect the quartz gem to fly off the handle like that and kept a close eye on her. If she got too upset, she might revert. “Don’t forget the five rubies.”

“Five rubies?” Jasper asked.

Steven nodded with a grunt. “Yeah: Navy, Doc, Leggy, Army, and Eyeball. They all came here to look for,” he glanced away, as if trying to decide what he should tell Jasper.

“Everything,” the quartz gem answered for him. “I need to know what happened here.”

“They were looking for you,” he said gravely. “They wanted to take you back so you could report to Yellow Diamond. We had Peridot hide in the barn while we played baseball with them, disguised as humans. Ruby and Sapphire started flirting which was really cute except it was hurting our chances of winning. Sapphire did get a homerun and won us the game but when she ran for home base, she sort of jump into Ruby’s arms and then Garnet came back which exposed us to the other rubies. They got angry and fused to make one giant woman and demanded to see the leader of the earth mission. But then Peridot came out from hiding in the barn and told them she was the new leader of the Crystal Gems which was weird. They asked where you were and we told them you were on Neptune so they left. We thought that was it but then they came back saying they searched every planet in the solar system and you weren’t there so then Amethyst shapeshifted into you and said you were here keeping an eye on us because we were your prisoners.” Jasper looked at Amethyst who smiled sheepishly. “The rubies wanted to take Amethyst to the moon to file a report saying you were staying on earth to watch over the prisoners which would have been great if we hadn’t already destroyed the communication device there. The rubies then wanted to take us to Homeworld but we obviously couldn’t do that so Amethyst told Eyeball to give the report for her and they were about to leave but they caught us faking and Sardonyx knocked them out into space before they could do anything but then I was dragged along and I managed to create a bubble so I could still breathe. Somehow, Eyeball was there with me but then we were attacked by a lot of meteors and her gem got cracked so I let her into my bubble and healed her which made her think I was Rose Quartz. She took out this little knife and tried to kill me so I flung her out into space before she could and then the rest found me and brought me back to earth. And a week later I had that dream and healed you.”

Jasper lost track of what Steven was saying at the baseball incident but she believed she got the gist. Someone must have either discovered the rubies’ absence or found them. She doubted it was the later but she kept that to herself; she noticed the conflicted emotions playing on Steven’s face when he talked about Eyeball’s attempt to murder him. For some reason he blamed himself, like he blamed himself for her own predicament. She didn’t have to rub salt in his wounds. “With everything considered,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “the Diamond Authority is most likely sending something to earth to wipe out the rest of Rose Quartz’s rebellion.” Jasper spoke as if she were the one making the orders.

A gasp of horror made everyone look at Peridot. The green gem held onto herself with an expression of pure terror. Jasper had the impulse to attack whatever was scaring Peridot but with nothing here, she wanted to punch the wall or break the counter. To stop herself from doing that, she curled her fingers so that her claws bit into her palms. The pain grounded her and she was able to listen to the smaller gem.

“They’re actually going to go through with it,” Peridot whispered to no one in particular. She looked up and focused on Jasper and Lapis. Peridot sighed and gave a weak, sad laugh. “At least I got this far without being shattered.”

            “No one is going to lay a finger on you,” Jasper growled. “Not when I’m still alive and kicking.” The urge grew to almost unbearable levels and Jasper felt her claws and fangs lengthen as her body shook with rage. She needed to ram her horns into whatever Peridot was afraid of, even if it was Yellow Diamond. She would make the bitch pay for causing the whimpers of fear that came out of the green gem.

            Lapis laid a hand on Jasper’s arm and the trembling stopped. She felt her own surge of protective anger but hid it well. Only she knew that the waves of the ocean suddenly started to crash onto the shore and dark clouds were gathering in the sky. “What do you know?” she asked Peridot.

            Peridot looked at Pearl. “Do you still have the chalkboard?”

            “It’s in my room,” Amethyst said. “One sec, I’ll go get it.” The purple gem ran to the temple door and showed it her gem. One of the points of the star glowed and opened to reveal Amethyst’s room. Wasting no time, she literally ran into a pile of junk, throwing one object after another over her shoulder. After a minute, Amethyst dragged a chalkboard out of her room and into the living room. “Here, and there’s some chalk too so you can write.”

            “Wow, thanks,” Peridot said, taking one of the chalk and immediately started writing down log numbers and bits of information. As her hand flew across the board, she explained. “As a Peridot, I had a natural curiosity of the advancement of gem technology through the ages.” She drew something that looked like a mess of gem shards stuck together. “As we all know, the diamonds authorized the research on the artificial fusion and corruption processes.” She allowed her eyes to flit to Garnet who gritted her teeth. Peridot’s hand slipped from the board and she was quick to wipe away the accidental line she drew. “During the rebellion, fragments of gems destroyed on both sides were used for the artificial fusion, however there were entries on captured Crystal Gems that were,” she hesitated long enough and looked at Steven for a moment, “interrogated and then used as practice subjects for corruption. There was a highly restricted file that had only one entry, a leaf note really, on the possibility of combining both processes to create the ultimate geoweapon.” Peridot stopped writing and pushed up her visors. “If such a thing really was created, then it would be stronger than even the Cluster.”

            “So I’ll just talk to it!” Steven called out nervously. He had thought that Homeworld was cruel but after what he had heard from Peridot, they were pure evil. Steven could never understand why anyone was loyal to the diamonds.

“It’s not that simple, Steven,” Peridot said sadly. “There will probably be a billion gem shards and, and,” she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

So Jasper did it for her. “Do you remember what it was like in my mind?” It was the first time she had ever acknowledged it since she was first unbubbled. Steven gulped and the look in his eyes portrayed just how horrific the experience was. “There will be billions of minds worse than that. I was only corrupted for months; their madness has been festering for _thousands of years_.”

“You barely left Jasper’s mind intact,” Garnet said, her hand clenching her arm. “It took us almost half an hour to bring you back and that was only after Lion alerted us.” Lion lifted his head and mewed, his fur standing on end as the memories of Steven’s screaming assaulted him. “Who knows how long you were in her mind. When you were Lars’s body, you had control. Back then,” Garnet turned her head and wiped a finger under her visors. Steven startled when he realized she brushed away a tear. He saw that Amethyst and Pearl were fighting back their own tears and Peridot and Lapis were looking very concerned. “you were physically here but mentally, you were still Jasper. If you try to enter that cluster’s mind, we might never get you back.”

Steven looked down, thinking over Garnet’s words. She was right: that night he was thrashing about and screaming for help but he didn’t know he was safe in the temple. He was still _there_ and he couldn’t escape, not until Garnet brought him back after she slapped him. Steven realized he never asked how many attempts it took for him to come back. He didn’t want to ever know. “Okay, so I can’t talk to this cluster. What can we do?”

Pearl took the other piece of chalk and drew a quick earth. She put an X roughly to where Beach City was. “They will most likely send the creature here since it is the last known locations of both the rubies’ and Peridot’s ship.” She erased some of Peridot’s writings and the green gem didn’t say anything, she didn’t even call Pearl a clod. “We need to be prepared and treat this seriously. We need to evacuate the town as soon as we see the creature enter the atmosphere, before then if we can. Steven, I would ask you to leave with your father,”

“No way!” Steven interrupted. “I’m a Crystal Gem too so let me fight!”

Pearl smiled down at him but the gesture was tampered with pain. “I know and you would use Lion to get back to us like last time, right?” Steven nodded, his eyes fierce with determination. Pearl sighed heavily and wrote down Stevonnie. “You should fuse with Connie to form Stevennie and with Lion, make sure everyone is evacuated. Once done, I want you to stay at the outskirts of the town. If we can’t defeat the monster, we need a quick escape which means we need Lion’s abilities.” She looked at Amethyst and Garnet. Both of them nodded their consent. “Garnet, Amethyst, and I will fuse as Alexandrite and fight the creature.”

“That won’t be enough,” Amethyst said. “We got our asses kicked by Malachite,” she glanced at Jasper and Lapis to make sure they were okay at the unwanted memory. “There’s no way we can beat this thing if it’s going to be anything like the Cluster!”

“I know,” Pearl whispered, setting the chalk down. She turned to face Peridot, Lapis, and Jasper with a solemn face and realization dawned on all three faces.

“No,” Jasper said through clenched teeth. “Don’t even suggest it, Pearl,” she growled.

Lapis touched her arm to get Jasper to look down at her face. “We don’t have a choice,” she said. “We have to fight. If we don’t, we’ll lose and be shattered.”

“And earth will be destroyed,” Steven added.

“I won’t do it,” Jasper said. “I can’t, not again.”

Pearl cleared her throat and laced her fingers together. “Jasper, please listen. Malachite, although unstable, was tremendously powerful. We need that strength now, more than ever, to beat this abomination.”

“Malachite _was_ an abomination,” Jasper barked back. Why won’t they stop? She just tried fusing with Lapis and couldn’t do it, so why are they still talking about this? “Malachite will never exist, I won’t put me or Lapis at risk like that.”

Peridot reached up to grab Jasper’s other hand. “It won’t be Malachite though,” she argued, giving the hand a squeeze. “I’ll be there too and if something goes wrong, then I’ll use my metal powers or something. I don’t know what happened with Malachite but I can guarantee that it won’t happen again with me there.”

Jasper said nothing and Lapis nodded to Pearl. “We’ll do it but on one condition. We will only fuse if Alexandrite can’t contain the creature.”

“Okay,” Pearl said, slapping her hands together. “Now that we have our game plan, I’ll go down to the mayor’s office to inform him of the impending doom.” No one laughed at the poor attempt of a joke.

Before anyone could stop her or ask where she was going, Jasper turned and stomped out of the beach house, ripping the screen door off its hinges. She didn’t say anything, only throwing the remains on the porch and walking down the stairs. Lapis looked at Peridot, hoping that the green gem had a suggestion of what to do. However, the same question was in the green eyes that stared back at her.

“You need to talk to Jasper and fast,” Garnet said.

Lapis and Peridot jumped at the voice. They didn’t hear Garnet coming towards them but they nodded and started to follow Jasper. “I wonder if Jasper had to go through this,” Lapis muttered.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been beating that fusion part of the plot a lot lately.... and I'm gonna do it a bit more :) (please don't hate me)


	25. Let Us Help You

****Lapis and Peridot found Jasper at the beach, laying down on the sand, watching the clouds drift by with a deep frown, her mind elsewhere. Luckily, the quartz gem didn’t stray too far away. They hurried down the stairs before the quartz gem decided to leave. Lapis reached Jasper first and smiled weakly at her. “We have to stop meeting like this,” she tried to joke but it ended sounding pathetically sad. Peridot laid a hand on her waist, both giving and seeking comfort.

Jasper’s eyes moved away from the cloud shaped like a grotesque dog to the blue and green gem. “Why would we form Malachite again?” she asked, tired of beating around the bush. She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, looking like a child instead of the warrior she was created to be. “Every time I think we move past that mess, someone has to shove it in our faces.” Her fingers raked through her hair in frustration. “I just stopped having those damn nightmares,” she growled. “I don’t want to have to sleep with Lion close by to bring me back to reality. It’s humiliating.”

Peridot let her hand fall from Lapis’s waist to take a seat to the right of Jasper. She leaned into the bigger gem, not really knowing what to do at the moment. Lapis sat on Jasper’s unoccupied side and grabbed a lock of beige hair. She was always amazed with how soft it was, Lapis had assumed it felt as coarse as it looked, just like Jasper and even Peridot. Such a strange analogy, the water gem thought. “It will be different this time,” she finally said. Lapis didn’t know if she was trying to convince Jasper, Peridot, herself, or all three of them. In the end it didn’t really matter, she supposed. “It’s not going to be filled with hatred like before.”

“Yes,” Peridot agreed. “It won’t even be Malachite because I’ll be in it to,” she said, gesturing to her gem. “If the Diamond Authority is truly going to send a corrupted fusion as we believe, then we need all the strength we can get.” Peridot looked up at the sky, the stars hidden from the sun’s light. “We might not survive but at least then we can see we gave it all that we got.”

Jasper looked down at her clenched hands. She didn’t realize that her claws had pierced the skin until she relaxed her grip and blood began to trickle down her hands. Immediately, Lapis grabbed her left and Peridot her right, both gems inspecting the wounds and making sounds of concern. How had this happen? “What if I want revenge?” she asked, lifting her injured hands from loving ones. She watched as red pools began to form in her palms. “What if there’s some part of me that still wants to shatter Steven for what his mother did to my diamond?” Jasper looked at them, desperate for any soothing answer. “What if you two get hurt because of my bloodlust? If we fuse, there will be two monsters to deal with.”

They didn’t say anything for quite some time. They just sat there, staring at their lover. Neither of them even made a move to stop Jasper from licking at the wound on her right palm. Jasper’s eyes stayed glued on her injuries, not risking a peek at their expressions.

“There might still be a part of me that wants to serve Yellow Diamond,” Peridot admitted. Gold and blue eyes snapped to her. She held onto her arms like she was trying to keep herself from breaking apart. “From the moment I was created, I was a peridot, a technician. I was given limb enhancers because no one believed I had any powers. As soon as I attached the enhancers to my body, I was assigned to check the progress of a Kindergarten on some nearby planet. I felt nothing for the planet that was dying because of the new soldiers, it was just a resource to be utilized to me.” She took off her visors to expose her gem to the two, offering it to them. “Everything was so much simpler then; don’t break the rules and you won’t get punished. Just complete your assignment and wait to be assigned to another one.”

“There is a part of me that still hates the Crystal Gems for what they did to me.” Lapis looked out into the sea, she couldn’t look at them like Peridot. “They _knew_ I was in that mirror and they did nothing. I tried screaming for help but they wouldn’t listen. Pearl picked me up and shoved me into her gem like I was just a toy to be played with on another day.” The sky darkened as clouds gathered. In the distance, thunder was heard. “I stayed there for thousands of years until Steven let me out. I want them to feel the pain and loneliness that I felt in that mirror. I want them to understand how cruel they were, how shatterment would have been better than to plead for help to deaf ears for thousands of years.”

Jasper threw her hands up. “See? That’s why we shouldn’t fuse.” She rested her chin on her crossed arms. “We’re all too fucked up. Whatever we would make would be fucked up too.”

Peridot shook her head and leaned back on her hands, her feet moving side to side lazily. “There’s a huge part of me that loves being on earth. Being my own gem!” She smiled up at Jasper and kissed the red stripe on her arm. “I wouldn’t be with either of you two if I was still back on Homeworld. I would’ve been shattered in an instant for even thinking about this,” Peridot said, gesturing between the three. “This planet is my home and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect it. Even from that cloddy Yellow Diamond.”

Lapis kissed the stripe on Jasper’s left arm. “I want Steven to be happy,” she murmured into Jasper’s arm. “I want to repay him for the kindness he showed me. He didn’t know who I was, what I’ve done, but he still freed me from the mirror.” Lapis sighed and scooted closer to Jasper. “If that means tolerating the Crystal Gem’s existence then so be it. It also means that I have to help him stop whatever the Diamonds are sending this way.”

Jasper looked down at her hands where her claws still glistened with her blood. Her eyes spied the turquoise spots littering her arms and sighed. “I’m afraid of becoming that mindless beast again.” The quartz gem tapped her head. “My mind was destroyed, there was barely anything left and what was there was tortured by my madness. I literally killed myself over and over again but I wouldn’t stay dead. I would have gladly shattered my own gem than to go back there.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Lapis whispered. “We’re here now and we can help you.” Jasper still looked unconvinced so Lapis added, “We’re not going anywhere. This planet isn’t that big.”

Peridot didn’t say anything, she just got up and marched in front of Jasper. She lifted a hand slowly so that Jasper could see exactly what she was doing. Peridot poked her nose, biting back a chuckle when it scrunched up in distaste. She did it again and didn’t flinch away from Jasper’s glare.

“Quit it,” Jasper growled.

“And if I don’t?” Peridot asked, poking Jasper’s nose again.

The quartz gem had to think of a proper punishment for Peridot being a brat. “I won’t sleep with you for a week.” The responding poke and roll of eyes pulled another agitated growl from Jasper. “I won’t visit you for a month!” Jasper knew that she would never be able to fulfil her threat and the smirk from Peridot told her that the technician knew as well.

“That’s how I know our fusion won’t be a monster,” Peridot declared triumphantly. She crossed her arms and grinned smugly at Jasper. “The old Jasper wouldn’t have even bothered growling out half-hearted threats. She would have just broken my arm or something.” She pressed her lips against Jasper’s to stop whatever protest the quartz gem was about to say. Pulling back, she said, “You aren’t her anymore so stop acting like it.”

Lapis nodded and turned Jasper’s head so she could kiss her too. “We’ve changed so much that Malachite will be a distant memory. There’s no way she will come back, we won’t let it.”

Jasper sat there on the sand, trying to piece everything together. It was too much, too fast, but she couldn’t do anything to stop or slow it down. She looked at Lapis and Peridot who stared back with not a hint of revulsion on their faces. Jasper groaned and flopped back on her back, unable to believe she was in this situation now. Just a few years ago, not even a blink of an eye for a jasper like her, did she want nothing more than to shatter Rose Quartz and watch her birthplace be destroyed, wiping away all evidence of that war. Now, she was going to help Rose Quartz’s offspring save the earth. “Fine,” she growled. “I’ll do it but only if the other fusion can’t stop the creature.”  

“YES!”

Jasper sprang up and whirled around. Steven was leaning on the porch’s railing, his fists raised in the air as Lion yawned and closed his eyes for a nap. Amethyst was pumping her fist, celebrating with a chorus of “Do it! Do it!” Pearl nodded in approval, as if Jasper was just some difficult child finally doing as she was told. Even Garnet gave her a thumbs-up.

‘Ugh,” Jasper groaned, slapping a hand against her forehead. How had she not known they had an audience? “I’m going soft,” she complained.

“Yeah,” Lapis laughed. Peridot nodded in agreement.

Jasper opened an eye and smirked down at Lapis as well as Peridot. “Do you really think that,” she practically purred.

Lapis and Peridot both gulped at the way Jasper’s eyes seemingly glowed. They were in trouble.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really short chapter I know, but I'll make it up in the next one. Speaking of which, the next chapter will contain sexually explicit content between three consenting adults. Don't like, then please don't read.


	26. Round 3: Fight!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL BETWEEN THREE CONSENTING ADULT GEMS. Don't like please don't read.

                Jasper closed the barn door behind her as her two lovers hurried up the ladder. She smirked at the breathless giggles both Lapis and Peridot were making as they laid down, their hands immediately tugging at each other’s clothes. The quartz gem joined them and phased off her uniform, her tentacle already erect and lightly pulsing. “We’re out of control,” Jasper grunted.

Lapis phased off her clothing as well and grabbed the shaft. She shrugged as her hand moved up and down slowly. “It is the end of the world after all,” she said. Jasper and Peridot made a face at the joke. They loved Lapis, truly, but the water gem sometimes lacked the tact to know what to make fun or and what to leave alone. Jasper was about to tell her so but a strangled growl escaped her lips when Lapis took an inch of her into her mouth. The quartz gem thread her fingers through blue locks, her hips fighting to keep still as Lapis bobbed her head. Jasper growled when Peridot tried to join in on the fun. The green gem wrapped her arms around Jasper’s waist, reaching up to brush her fingers against hardening nipples.

“What?” Peridot pouted, kissing at a red stripe that slashed down Jasper’s back. She really was gorgeous with those markings. Even the turquoise dots made her more exotic.

“Don’t,” Jasper groaned, using the hand that wasn’t tangled in Lapis’s hair to push Peridot away gently. “This is your punishment for,” Jasper halted her speech to moan. Lapis ran her tongue along the underside of her length and the sight of her mischievous eyes tightened something in Jasper’s gut. “For annoying me with that stick,” the quartz gem got out. She pulled Lapis’s hair with as little strength as she could, her eyes widening at the sound of a whine leaving the water gem’s lips, the vibrations around her tentacle making her gasp. Lapis took the tentacle out of her mouth to look up at her, some droll slowly making its way down her chin and her eyes dark with lust. Jasper glanced at Peridot but the green gem didn’t offer any explanation. Jasper gave Lapis’s hair another tug, this one with only a bit more force than the first and another whine bubbled up from Lapis. A vicious smirk suddenly adorned Jasper’s face when she pushed Lapis down on the mattress, pressing their lips together and swallowing the surprised groan. The quartz gem pulled Lapis’s head away by her hair, the moan sending shivers down her spine. “You like this?” It was a rhetorical question, all the proof she needed was the slickness gathering in between Lapis’s legs.

Lapis face was aflame with both desire and embarrassment. She glanced away and pressed her knees together.

Jasper let go of Lapis’s hair in favor of tilting her chin so Lapis had no choice but to look at her. “Hey,” she cooed, giving her lips a swift kiss. “I’m not going to judge you and by the look of Peridot, she won’t either.” The green gem was currently sitting down with her legs open, a busy hand obscuring Jasper’s and Lapis’s view of her sex. Jasper refocused her attention on Lapis and laid a hand on her knee, gently moving it away from the other. “It’s okay if you like the sex to be a little rough.” Jasper leaned forward and bit the tip of Lapis’s ear, letting a fang scrape against it. The water gem trembled underneath her. “I like it too.”

Lapis nodded shakily and allowed her legs to be opened. Her hands grabbed at Jasper’s shoulders as her head pressed into the mattress. Her hips buckled and she gasped at the finger exploring her lower lips. It would collect the slick that had already spilled out of her and circle her entrance, moving inside only a tiny bit before moving away to ghost over her clit. She was too excited to be teased like that but every time she lifted her hips to get more pressure, Jasper would lift her hand away. “Please,” she begged. The way that Jasper’s tentacle twitched told Lapis she hit the right button. Lapis pulled Jasper closer to her as she whimpered. “I need you, Jasper. I need you inside me.”

“Fuck, Lapis,” Jasper groaned, pulling the smaller gem closer. Lapis wrapped her legs around Jasper’s waist, crossing her ankles so the quartz gem couldn’t leave her like this. She guided the head of her tentacle into entrance and Jasper sank herself in. It was much easier than the first time and the heat around her tentacle made Jasper’s toes curl. Her hands went on either side of Lapis’s head to help balance herself as her hips started to rock up and down. Her breathing quickly labored into panting, only being broken by gasps and quiet curses.

“Yes!” Lapis cried out. Jasper’s tentacle hit something inside her that sent electricity through her entire body. Her hips moved with Jasper’s in a private dance between lovers, her blunt nails digging down into the flesh of the quartz gem’s back. She pulled her hand down, reveling in the surprised snarl that her scratches produced. Lapis released her own gasp as the pace suddenly increased, a hand grabbing her hips to keep the water gem relativity steady. The tightening in her abdomen increased and Lapis loved it. “Harder!” Jasper gave the water gem what she wanted, fucking her as hard as she dared to go. The sounds of her hips slapping Lapis’s was music to her ears. She could feel Lapis’s walls clench around her and groaned. Lapis gave one final moan as she felt herself climax, collapsing down on the mattress as her strength left her.

“Already?” Jasper teased, slipping herself out. She sat down to admire her handiwork, the scratches Lapis gifted her burning in a delicious way on her back. The quartz gem stroked herself, not having found her own release but very close to do so. She turned her head to look at Peridot and smirked, patting her lap. Immediately the small gem crawled to her and sat down on her hips, her back facing Jasper. Jasper raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t question it. “Did you learn your lesson?” Peridot nodded her head with a needy whine. “It’s all yours,” she chuckled, a clawed hand resting on Peridot’s hips.

Peridot took her easily and mewed at the sensation, drowned out by Jasper’s growl. She was already so excited from watching the two have their fun. She rolled her hips and whimpered at the feeling of the tentacle moving inside her. The technician noticed that Lapis had lifted her head to look at her being filled with Jasper’s tentacle. Peridot leaned back into Jasper and found a rhythm that was slow but left the two groaning and moaning while giving Lapis a nice view. The way the water gem licked her lips at the sight made Peridot shudder.

Lapis got up and pushed Peridot’s legs further apart. She covered Jasper’s hand with her own and leaned in, taking a swift lick at the exposed bud on the top of Peridot’s sex. Peridot shrieked at the feeling of Lapis’s tongue and buried one of her hands into Lapis’s hair. Lapis moaned at the tugging sensation and took another swipe at her clit, moving her tongue at the same pace of Peridot’s grinding.

“Lapis, no,” Peridot whined. She was so close and by the sounds Jasper was making she was too. Peridot’s hips bucked up at another lick from Lapis and gripped onto Jasper’s thigh and Lapis’s hair. Her body locked up as she climaxed, Lapis’s tongue and Jasper’s light thrusting prolonging the orgasm as much as they could. But even after Peridot’s body stopped trembling, Lapis continued to play with her clit and Jasper stayed inside her. “Quit it,” she said weakly, the whine morphing into a gasp as Lapis’s lips enveloped her clit, sucking slightly. Peridot could feel herself being pushed to her brink again and whined deep in her throat. She tried to glare down at the wicked blue eyes laughing up at her but the hard lick made them close. The technician tried to brace herself for her second orgasm and her body tensed up again before slumping against Jasper’s. Lapis finally released Peridot’s abused sex with a final lick, kissing the inside of Peridot’s thigh lovingly.

The quartz gem growled as she felt herself hit her peak, filling Peridot with her release. She panted as her tentacle sheathed itself. Her back touched the mattress as she laid down, gently pulling Peridot with her. The green gem shifted a little to get more comfortable on top of Jasper, using one of her breasts as a pillow. A tongue snaked out to flick against her nipple and Jasper lightly growled. “No more,” she groaned. She only hoped that Lapis wasn’t going to torture her like she did to Peridot. But, having two orgasms like that might not be so bad.

“I keep forgetting how cute you two are when you’re exhausted,” Lapis said with a laugh, laying down next to Jasper, a hand reaching up to rub Peridot’s arm.

“I am not cute,” Jasper said, pulling Lapis closer to her. “I am a quartz warrior.”

“A cute quartz warrior,” Peridot mumbled, her eyes looking at Jasper adoringly. She leaned down and kissed the quartz warrior’s gem, smiling to herself at how it made the bigger gem shudder.

Jasper grumbled something under her breath and stared up at the ceiling, refusing to look at the other two. She wasn’t cute, she was fierce and vicious and strong and…. Jasper sighed, “I hate you two.”

“We love you too,” Peridot and Lapis said at once.

 


	27. Homeworld Invasion: Take 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, after 26 chapters we've reached the end ladies and gentlemen. I have to admit, several times I thought about giving up on this story but you guys, you pulled me through. I love you all and your support. I'm going to take a long break after this story and start writing a Gravity Falls fanfic (I discovered it like months ago and the idea of adult Mabel and Wendy won't leave my head!) I hope this ending satisfies you and I hope to continue to write for you all. Enjoy!

“Hey, Jasper, can you please pass the popcorn?”

  
Jasper muttered under her breath but handed over the bag of popcorn she was eating to Connie. The human girl gave a smile of thanks but the quartz gem frowned at the dark rings under her eyes. Everyone in the beach house had circles under their eyes from the lack of rest, even Peridot and Lapis. She knew if she looked in a mirror she would spot her own. Jasper looked back at where Dr. Maheswaranh and her husband were whispering to Pearl in the kitchen. The parents would constantly glance at their daughter, as if the monster being sent was going to appear in a mere instant without the gem's knowledge. Jasper tilted her head up to look at Greg and Steven. They were huddling on Steven’s bed, watching some disturbing cartoon about food crying. Greg wore a grimace but he didn’t try to change the channel. The show made Steven happy so he would just have to endure it.

“It’s weird having so many humans under one roof,” Peridot commented. She was sitting next to Jasper and Lapis was lounging as best as she could on the other side. The green gem glanced outside for the hundredth time that hour, her eyes scanning the skies for any sign of the Corrupted Cluster as Steven had named it. Peridot had been doing that for an entire week now, as Greg, Connie and her parents, and the three of them begun living in the beach house. Even the Crystal Gems never entered their temple and rarely let Steven out of their sights, except when he went to the bathroom. “I hate waiting and doing nothing. Shouldn’t we build something? Like a giant… robot?”

Lapis shook her head, her eyes trained on Steven. “I don’t know what a robot is but I don’t think it can defeat the Corrupted Cluster.”

“We already warned Mayor Dewey and he told the town's people to be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice,” Jasper added. The quartz gem remembered the meeting clearly. The mayor was trembling all over when they told them of their suspicions. Jasper didn’t even find any joy at how he nearly tripped over his own feet to shake Pearl’s hand and how Amethyst looked like she wanted nothing more than to punch the man. Garnet only stood there, but Jasper could practically feel the malicious thoughts coming from her. He tried to plead with them to do whatever it took to protect the town but Pearl calmly said that there might not be much of a town left. “There’s nothing more we can do except wait.” A surprising trait of jaspers was their ability to wait until an opportunity to attack presented itself but this was different. They all knew they were most likely going to be killed in the upcoming fight but they ignored the dread as much as they could. Jasper felt pity for Dr. and Mr. Maheswaranh and even Greg. She could never understand the anguish they must be going through, pretending that their children won’t be sent off to perish at any moment. If it was anything like how she felt for Lapis and Peridot, it must be like watching your heart bleed in front of you. Jasper rested a hand over her gem and felt her heart thump. Will it end soon?

Connie passed back the popcorn but Jasper wasn’t hungry anymore. She put the bag on the table and bounced her knee. “You want to read something?” Connie offered. Jasper shook her head, she wanted to fight. Whatever part of her that was still broken in her mind roared for her to bite and claw at something. The instinct to maim grew everyday until she had to take frequent walks to burn some energy. Lapis and Peridot would go with her, which sparked a half-hearted joke about them being in heat, namely from Amethyst. In truth, they would only partake in each others bodies occasionally when they were too full of energy or when one of them, mostly Peridot, needed to be distracted. They would usually get to know one another or hold onto each other while watching the sunset or sunrise. It was strange, now there was an impending doom, they found out the most about each other. Lapis couldn’t be trusted in sleeping in the hammock; it was guaranteed that she would fall out at some point. Peridot could be calmed by strong hugs if it was Jasper or having fingers brushed through her hair if it was Lapis. And apparently Jasper’s leg would scratch at the air if someone scratch behind her left ear when she was napping.

“Oh no,” Amethyst whispered. Jasper was ripped back to reality at the sound of Amethyst’s horror-filled whisper and feet scrambling to the windows. She joined the others and growled at the sight of a green hand, much like Peridot’s old ship, flying closer to them. It pointed at the temple, as if accusing them of the rebellion personally. The quartz gem heard Mr. Maheswaranh take a quick intake of breath at her growl and his wife explaining her animal-like tendencies. Jasper was stunned with how calm the doctor was, but she probably learned the trade of keeping her emotions on check with her line of work. She felt a hand grab at her own and gave it a quick squeeze. Jasper glanced down and what she thought was Peridot’s hand was actually Steven’s. He looked up at her with guarded eyes but she could still see the fear in them.

“We quartzes are soldiers,” she said down to him. “If we fall, we fall fighting.” Jasper wasn’t sure if she said the right words but Steven nodded with a determined grunt. She looked back at the hand, going over the events that led her to here. The quartz gem quickly shut down that line of thinking, it was far too depressing and wouldn’t help her now.

Garnet’s clapping drew all their attention away from the hand ship. “Okay, we all know what we need to do so lets do it. Greg, take the Maheswaranhs and start driving. The more distance you put between yourselves and this town, the better. Steven, Connie, fuse and help everyone evacuate.” Jasper couldn’t help but tilt her head at how Connie’s parents both gasped in shock when Connie and Steven danced and fused together. Stevonnie smiled sheepishly at them and gave them and Greg a hug and a kiss goodbye. Jasper didn’t dwell on the fact that it really might be a true kiss goodbye. They left the beach house, Lion following after he jumped up to rub his head under Jasper’s chin with a sad mew. “Pearl, Amethyst, with me.” She looked at the three gems that once fought for Homeworld. “You three stay at the beach and be ready to fight if we lose.” The three Crystal Gems left and only Jasper, Lapis, and Peridot were standing in front of the windows.

“This is it,” Peridot said, a hand reaching up to brush away a stray tear. Jasper didn’t like how her voice trembled but she didn’t know what to do to ease the green gem’s fears. “If we,” she hesitated, taking a gulp of courage, “don’t make it, I just want you two to know that, uh, my experiences with you were mostly good.” Peridot frowned at her phrasing. “No, I meant to say that,” her words were halted by Lapis’s kiss.

“We love you too, Peri,” she whispered. Lapis leaned up to kiss Jasper. “I know I can’t make up for what I did to you, but I’m sorry and I,” her hands grabbed at Jasper’s mane, “I just-.”

Jasper brushed her lips against Lapis’s. She held the water gem’s body close to her own. “I know.” She let go of Lapis’s body to bend down and kiss Peridot. “I love you.” She straightened her back and rolled her shoulders to release the mounting tension. Jasper tilted her head until she heard a telling crack and moved it the other way until another one was heard. “Let’s die like warriors.”

Both Jasper and Peridot steeled themselves and nodded. They walked down the stairs to the beach, just in time to see Garnet finishing the fusion dance by grabbing Pearl’s and Amethyst’s hands as they danced towards her. All four of their gems were shining brightly, as if celebrating coming together. Their bodies became blobs of light that came together and with a flash, became Alexandrite. The fusion summoned a bow and materialized an arrow of white light. Alexandrite took aim and let it fly. It struck true but it did nothing. The ship didn’t go into a defensive stance, which meant it was unmanned. Alexandrite let loose several more arrows but they were all ineffective. They didn’t even leave a scratch on the ship’s surface. The hand exploded, releasing something that looked like a giant rock into the ocean. The sudden detonation must have jolted the fusion because cracks began to spread through her body. Alexandrite growled lowly to herself and the cracks disappeared, but Jasper doubted they would be gone for long. The three Crystal Gems were close but they were too different to keep a fusion like Alexandrite for long.

As soon as the rock hit the earth’s surface, a loud screeching filled the air. Everyone, including Jasper, took a step back on instinct. It sounded like an animal being tortured to an inch of its life. It was sickening and Jasper knew that she probably screamed like that when she was first unbubbled. The quartz gem shivered at the thought and watched as something began to materialize out of the mess of gem fragments. She couldn’t describe what it looked like because it wouldn’t stay in one form for long. Something that looked like a corrupted quartz’s paw would slam down in the ocean, but it would destabilize to form back into a multicolored hand with claws. But the eyes wouldn’t destabilize. There were eyes of every shade of color all over the creature glaring at Alexandrite. The fusion shivered and took a few shots at the thing. The fusion monster didn’t blink, it just took the arrows, each one that landed causing another inhuman shriek of agony.

“It isn’t defending itself,” Peridot whispered, a hand covering her mouth. She gripped Jasper’s arm in comfort as she watched the thing struggle to even stand up. How could Homeworld have created this thing? It was cruel. All those gems corrupted, shattered, and forced to fuse with one another. It was merciless. It didn’t want to be here. It was confused and hurting and missing pieces of itself, not only having a broken mind of a corrupted gem, but having several of those pieces stolen so it can’t even be called whole. It was heartless. How could she have followed such monsters? How could Jasper? Peridot looked up and saw the disgust and pity on her face. How many of her sisters were in that mess of gem shards?

Alexandrite’s bow arm started trembling and the weapon vanished. She pushed up her visors as her other five arms held herself. “This is sick,” said the mouth underneath the dominant one. Saliva dripped down the mouth as it growled at the creature. “That’s why we need to stop it,” said the dominant mouth. Cracks of light littered her face as the Corrupted Cluster finally found its footing. Alexandrite shook her head to stop the rampant thoughts. She summoned Sardonyx’s war hammer. “We need to end this as fast as possible.” The second mouth closed and Alexandrite charged the monster. She tried to bring down the war hammer onto a mass of eyes but a hand grabbed the hammer before it could. Alexandrite roared out a column of fire as she let the war hammer disappear. The Corrupted Cluster grabbed at the fusion with its current hands and Alexandrite jumped out of the way. The monster dashed forward, catching Alexandrite by surprise with its speed. Something resembling a mouth opened and clamped down on the fusion’s midsection. Alexandrite gasped and slammed her fists down on the eyes but the Corrupted Cluster only tightened its grip.

“They’re losing,” Lapis whispered. She watched as Alexandrite punched the Corrupted Cluster with all of her arms at once. The monster let go of the fusion and Alexandrite managed to kick it away while it was still stunned. Instead of blood leaking out of the wounds, it was light. Alexandrite gripped at where the Corrupted Cluster had bit her, roaring with pain and rage. She lept forward and at the last moment, summoned Pearl’s spear. It stabbed into the creature and bits of gem fragments were broken off. They landed into the ocean and formed smaller monsters. They attacked Alexandrite’s legs while the Corrupted Cluster clawed, bit, and punched at Alexandrite’s torso. Soon, the fusion was overpowered and thrown closer to shore. She landed with a telling crunch and when she got back to her feet, two of her left arms were missing.

Jasper sighed and looked down at Peridot who was still watching the fighting. The technician sensed someone looking at her and met Jasper’s gaze. The quartz gem hated seeing the terror in those eyes and not being able to wipe it away. “Is there any chance we will survive?” she asked.

Peridot managed a small, pathetic smile and shook her head. “Not really, no.”

“Okay,” Jasper said, inhaling what could be her last breaths. She bent down and kissed Peridot desperately, trying to convey every emotion she had into the kiss. She did the same for Lapis and pulled away with a stray tear sliding down her cheek. Lapis and Peridot were also crying quietly but they didn’t try to hide it. “Thank you two, for everything.” Jasper looked back at Alexandrite. The fusion was on her back, the remaining arms trying to hold the Corrupted Cluster away from her. The smaller monsters that had formed were tearing away at her body freely. Jasper looked back at her lovers and put on a mask of a soldier. “Let’s fuse.”

Lapis swallowed and looked at Peridot, offering a hand. The technician took it and the two began a waltz, ignoring the fighting and Alexandrite’s anguished screams. Lapis led the dance, her eyes only on Peridot. She twirled the smaller gem, smiling when Peridot came back to her. She saw how the green gem on her head glowed and knew that her own was shining brightly. For some reason, this didn’t scare her. It felt….. right. The two danced in a circle and felt another presence. Lapis was confused for a moment but realized it was Jasper, she was asking to join the fusion. Lapis and Peridot parted and both twirled, somehow knowing where Jasper was even though they only looked at each other during their dance. Jasper captured both of their hands and pulled them close, feeling her body lose its shape to intermingle with Peridot’s and Lapis’s.

Alexandrite screamed as one her right arms was ripped off her body. She couldn’t hold the fusion for much longer but she had to. She managed to get her feet up and kicked the Corrupted Cluster away from her. The fusion swiped at the smaller monsters and they sailed into the air towards the shore. She got up on her feet, stumbling, and felt her four minds rage war. Amethyst wanted to use a spin dash to force it further into the ocean, Sapphire wanted to let the monster come to them to conserve energy, Ruby wanted to breathe fire at the creature, and Pearl wanted to make sure Steven and Connie were safe. Alexandrite couldn’t concentrate on which thoughts to listen to and as a result, her body wouldn’t respond. She couldn’t lift an arm to stop one of the Corrupted Cluster’s hands from raking its claws down her face as she was slammed down onto her back with the monster using its weight to keep her down. Shattered visors fell into the ocean and all seven eyes opened to watch the monster lift a paw to shatter her. If they unfused, they would plummet down to the monsters that made their way back to the fight. She closed her eyes, hoping Steven wasn't watching this through Stevonnie's eyes.

The monsters never got a chance to devour the last of the Crystal Gems however. The weight from the Corrupted Cluster vanished as something big slammed into it. The monsters were gone and the Alexandrite could just see ice encasing their fused gem shards within the water. Alexandrite sat up to look at her savior but the other was already busy fighting the Corrupted Cluster.

The fusion entered a spin dash at the creature and ended it to ram her horns into the center of the glued shard fragments. The Corrupted Cluster wailed as it was thrown further into the sea. Several chunks were broken off but the fusion encased them in balls of ice before they could form. She flicked a clawed hand and the trapped gem fragments were carried safely to the shore by a current of water.

The fusion stood, facing the Corrupted Cluster as it struggled to form new legs, calculating how to best to fight it. Her beige hair was lifted by the wind, it was shorter than Jasper’s but just as wild. The fusion stood on four legs that resembled that of a corrupted quartz’s. Spearmint spikes poke out from her uniform but they didn't seem to bother her. She looked back at the three Crystal Gems with her four blue eyes. “Are you okay?” she asked in a soothing voice.

“Malachite!?” Alexandrite yelled, feeling her body giving up and unfusing. Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet started falling but a hand made of water caught them. It carried them to the beach and set them down next to the ice balls.

A soft laugh from the fusion of her answer, a clawed hand pushing up her visors. She thumped her chest with her hand as she pointed to herself with her thumb. “Nope! The name’s Ammolite!” The fusion called out, grinning so that her fangs shone in the sun’s light. She turned her head to look back at the Corrupted Cluster. It roared as it started towards Ammolite, its body’s form changing every second but still it moved fast. “Let’s have some fun!” Ammolite yelled at the creature, the gem at her back glowing as wings of water sprung out. The fusion laughed as she launched herself into the air. The Corrupted Cluster jumped up, just as Ammolite hoped. She loved it when things go as planned. “Too slow!” She flew out of the way and grabbed the Corrupted Cluster with her four paws. Ammolite spun into the air, gaining momentum, and flung the creature back down to the ocean. As soon as it touched the waters, chains shot out to hold it down. Ammolite grimaced at the sight of them and slapped a hand to her head, her claws digging into her scalp. “It’s okay,” she whimpered to herself. The chains began to dissolve and the Corrupted Cluster broke free of some of them, starting to make its way to the beach to the weakened gems. “It’s okay, Lapis.” Ammolite shook her head and refocused. More chains grabbed at the Corrupted Cluster’s body, pulling it back where it used to be. Ammolite brought her hands together and closed her eyes, concentrating. She could do this. As easy as breathing, the fusion brought forth her weapon. She held up the war axe, the blade changing shades of blue, green, red, and orange as the light of the sun danced on it. Ammolite released a battle roar as she plunged down, holding onto her weapon with both hands. She brought it down on the creature and it poofed with a stomach-turning screech. The thing that made up its gem fell into the ocean as the war axe disappeared. Ammolite bent down to grab it and look closer at shards. She frowned at the sight of all the shards forced together. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. A bubble encased the shard fragments and Ammolite held it away from her body on instinct. When it did nothing, she brought it closer and watched as the bubbled changed colors like her war axe. She continued to study it as she walked to the beach were the others were waiting. They were already celebrating as she sat down. She tapped the top of the bubble like Peridot did once and it vanished, going to the barn. Ammolite thought of creating her own temple to store the two bubbles she and Peridot had but figured it would be too much of a hassle.

“Are you still in control?” Pearl called up to Ammolite.

Ammolite jumped at the voice, forgetting that she wasn’t alone on the beach. She looked down to see Amethyst jumping up and down in joy but at Pearl’s words she stopped. The purple gem said something about word choice and Pearl blushed deeply but Ammolite didn’t mind. She touched Jasper’s gem, it felt warm but not unbearably hot. She looked to where Garnet was studying the gem shards with a scowl. “Do I have to go now?” she asked.

Garnet looked up at the other fusion. She took off her visors so Ammolite could see all three of her eyes. “Do you want to?” she asked.

“No, I uh,” Ammolite faltered. She stayed quiet and noticed that everyone was waiting for her response. She looked down at her hands, she wanted to hold someone’s hand but whose? Was it Jasper, Peridot, Lapis, or did all three that felt the same way? Ammolite closed her fingers and looked at Garnet. “How do I end this?” she asked.

“Remember what makes you, you” Garnet answered.

Ammolite nodded and closed her eyes. She recalled the good and bad memories that the three gems shared with one another. How Peridot interrogated Lapis. How Jasper ordered Peridot around and had complete disregard to her mission. How Lapis tricked Jasper into fusion. How Lapis treated Peridot at the barn. How Peridot and Lapis became closer after the Ruby Squad fiasco. How their strange friendship evolved to love. How Jasper found Lapis and tried to form Malachite again. How Lapis told Jasper no and saved Steven from her. How Peridot poofed Jasper when she became corrupted. How Jasper got to see Lapis but passed out before she could say she knew Malachite was wrong. How Jasper helped Peridot find Lapis on Mask Island and bring her home. How Jasper started to develop feelings for the two and them her. How they fused to form Ammolite to protect their home.

Jasper opened her eyes and looked around her. How long had they unfused? She saw Lapis and Peridot and rushed over to them. Her eyes flashed down both bodies, prodding hands touching smooth skin instead of spikes. “Are you two okay?”

Lapis smiled up at Jasper and answered with a kiss. Jasper gave a surprised sound but returned the kiss eagerly. When they pulled away, Lapis was laughing. “So that was fusion?”

“It was amazing!” Peridot exclaimed. She hugged Lapis’s waist and Jasper’s hip. “We should do that all the time!” The green technician stilled as realization spread across her face. She ran up to Garnet and grabbed her hands, turning them over so Sapphire’s and Ruby’s gems were visible. Peridot smiled up at her. “I get it now!”

Garnet grinned down at Peridot and nodded in approval. “I’m glad you finally did.”

“Guys!”

Everyone turned their heads to see Lion bounding towards the group, or rather Jasper. Stevonnie waved her arms and jumped off the creature. Lion didn’t seem to mind the sudden departure of his rider, he just jumped at Jasper. The quartz gem grabbed the animal but the sudden weight was too much and the fusion took a lot of energy out of her already. She fell down with Lion on top, purring and mewing as he licked Jasper’s face. “No, Lion!” Jasper roared. She shoved Lion off of her and hissed at him. Lion shook himself and pressed his head against her own, purring. “Dumb cat,” Jasper muttered but an arm wrapped securely around his neck.

Stevonnie reached them and grabbed the nearest gem for a hug, which happened to be Pearl. She spun Pearl around and set her down to give the next gem a hug. Peridot shrieked at the embrace but didn’t push away from Stevonnie. The fusion gave everyone a hug and stopped when it was Jasper’s turn. The quartz gem scowled at her but didn’t stop the fusion from wrapping her arms around her.

“That was awesome, Jasper!” Stevonnie laughed. She let go of the bigger gem and beamed at her, as well as Lapis and Peridot. “You guys made the ultimate fusion!” When everyone just stared at her confused, except Lion who wasn’t paying attention, Stevonnie grinned. “Connie’ll explain.” Stevonnie became a beam of light and when it was gone, Steven and Connie were standing holding hands.

Connie cleared her throat, a light flush on her cheeks at having everyone looking at her. “It’s nothing really. I just, well, as Ammolite, you had something distinctive about each of your respective gems. Jasper’s horns were there, Lapis’s wings, and Peridot’s visors. I mean, you can tell which gems are fused together usually but yours was really obvious.” Connie brushed back her hair with a nervous laugh. “I just thought it was really cool that even though you were a fusion, you were still you.”

Jasper chuckled and reached out to ruffle Connie’s hair. The human went still for a moment but then laughed and tried to push away the hand. The quartz gem got up and walked to Lapis and Peridot. She gave them quick kisses and noticed that Garnet was smiling, her hands pressed together. Jasper's eyes widened. “You, you knew,” she said incredulously.

Garnet’s smiled widened. Amethyst gasped and pointed at the fusion. "She called it!"

"I did," Garnet confirmed. She walked to Jasper and laid a hand on her shoulder. The fusion took off her glasses and smiled at the quartz gem. "I always knew you could do it."

"From the beginning?" Jasper had to know how long Garnet saw Ammolite. "From the first time we met, you saw this happening?"

Garnet chuckled and shook her head. "No, it was when Steven unbubbled you. I was about to destroy your physical form and bubble you but then I saw them," she nodded to Lapis and Peridot who look as confused as everyone else. "They helped you and with their love as well as yours, you three could become Ammolite." Her visors reappeared and her grin turned into a frown. She looked at the trapped gem fragments. "But I didn't see those things." Garnet shuddered in disgust and looked back at Jasper.

The quartz gem mulled over the fusion's words, trying to decide how she should feel about this. Garnet kept a very important vision from her, and from everyone else, but the fact that it involved her and her lovers made her feel cheated somehow. If Jasper had known about Ammolite, she could have mended the bridge between her and Lapis and Peridot ages ago. But when she turned her head to look at the two gems, she realized she wouldn't have changed anything. A lot of bad shit happened from the moment she was unbubbled to now, but so much more good things occurred as well. Jasper glanced at Garnet and forced her head to nod. "Thanks." Jasper strolled over to her lovers and lifted them up with ease. "We have to go and celebrate."

"Huh?" Steven asked. He was the only one in the group that didn't know what celebrating entailed. Even Connie blushed deeply and coughed into her hand. "Can I come too?"

Pearl beat Jasper, as usual. "No!" she shrieked, looking mortified. She knew Steven was too innocent to know what those heated glances that the three Homeworld gems shared meant and she wasn't going to explain now. "They uh, need their... alone time. Yes, to collect themselves after forming Ammolite. So let's go inside the temple and never speak of this again!" Peal picked up Steven and tucked him under her arm as she made her way to the stairs.

"Why can't I come? Is there going to be balloons?" Steven asked up at Pearl. Amethyst hollered and fell to the ground in her laughter.

Jasper ignored the others and smirked at Peridot. Her eyes lifted to Lapis's and saw the water gem nod, silently agreeing to team up on the smaller gem. Jasper realized that they do that a lot but she doubted Peridot truly minded. In fact, the technician seemed to gush when both of their attention was focused on her. The quartz gem started to jog away, feeling her heart pound at the ideas growing in her mind. Oh this was going to be so much fun.

 

**Author's Note:**

> What do you guys think?


End file.
